Higher run rates could bring revenue to county
JoAnn Knak, director of the Marion County Ambulance Service, told county commissioners Monday that raising ambulance rates could bring in as much as $260,000 more per year in revenue.
The current base rates for ambulance runs are $250 and $300. Knak would like to see those raised to $450 and $500. In 2002, the ambulances made 836 calls or runs.
If half of those had been billed at $450 and half at $500, she said, revenue from the calls would have totaled $397,100. As it was, income from ambulance calls was $134,560, she said. Not all accounts have been settled.
The recommendation of Knak and her staff is to contract with accountants Swindoll, Janzen, Hawk and Loyd of McPherson and pay the firm $3,432 to design and install an accounts receivable software program for the ambulance service.
She said she had contacted several counties and cities to see how they handle accounts receivable. Contacted were Republic, Russell, Rice, Coffey, and Scott counties, as well as Buhler, Wellington, Quinter, and Sedan ambulance services.
The fee for Swindoll, Janzen, Hawk and Loyd will be for 44 hours' work at $78 per hour.
Upcoming proposed projects for the ambulance service include a tactical medic class, a landing zone class at Peabody Monday evening, the Marion County Fair, first aid and CPR training for Barkman Honey (Golden Heritage Foods), Epi Pen for the Tampa crew, a one-week vacation trip to Oshkosh, Wis., for Knak, and the last week of her vacation carry-over.
Ongoing projects include crew meetings for continuing education units.
Completed projects include a recent emergency medical technician's class passed by four people. Two will have to retake the written test, one will have to retake the practical exam, and one student's paperwork was lost by the national registry, Knak said.
Also, she took four days' vacation, attended an American Heart Association update and a Kansas Emergency Medical Technicians Association board meeting, and has been busy making budget preparations.
Her department participated in the Fourth of July Parade at Peabody, provided first aid/CPR training for the Durham Fire Department, and hosted an Aviation Safety Day with eight planes on hand.
Fire departments attending were from Durham, Hillsboro, and Lincolnville. Emergency Medical Service personnel attended from Hillsboro, Peabody, Lincolnville, and Tampa.
There were 61 ambulance runs in June — 20 in Marion, 20 in Hillsboro, 12 in Peabody and nine in Tampa.
There were nine first responder calls — four in Burns, three in Lincolnville, and one each in Goessel and Durham.
