County's new MedStar contract cuts number of ambulances staged here

In their last meeting of 2017, the Randolph County Board of Commissioners approved a new contract with MedStar Ambulance Inc.

The four-year contract is for a less term than the previous deal, and will guarantee one ambulance staged in the county instead of the three that were guaranteed as part of the 10-year contract that expired in November.

Financial terms were not disclosed at the meeting, but in the county's fiscal year 2018 budget, it was noticed that the ambulance service subsidy was reduced by $138,250 from the previous year.

Chuck Kelley and Deb Kelley, representing MedStar, were on hand to explain the contract and their service to the board and reporters.

"When we went into the ambulance service 36 years ago, it was a challenge then," Deb said. "But we're developing a system to lower response times from what they've been."

MedStar Ambulance covers Randolph, St. Clair and Clinton counties with a dispatch center in Sparta. MedStar has around 180 employees and also serves as a training ground for those who are pursuing medical careers in nursing and doctoring.

"We are in three counties and the other counties are helping keep what we have here," Deb said. "If one of the other counties fails to produce, it could be catastrophic."

Both Chuck and Deb noted the county's three hospitals - Sparta Community, Red Bud Regional and Chester Memorial - are a unique benefit to the region.

Chuck said most of the emergency medical technicians who work in Randolph County also live there and that the county is "about an hour from every specialist healthcare (people) would need."

"The healthcare system that Randolph County has is very fortunate," he said. "Randolph County, with all their hospitals and an EMS, we have developed a really good system."

Chuck noted that the American Heart Association has recommended a 90-minute window to restore arterial blood flow in a heart attack victim before the risk of death or debilitation becomes too great to overcome.

"Our average response time is 63 minutes from anywhere in Randolph County," Chuck said.

Chuck highlighted paramedicine and in-house treatment as the future of EMS, with the goal to provide the optimal quality of life from birth to end-of-life care.

"It's the thought of the doctor who used to do house calls," he said.

Chuck said MedStar is also working on an agreement with a helicopter service that would cost patients "significantly less than a $50,000 bill" for air transport.

The commissioners thanked the MedStar representatives for "helping the county through our financial crunch."

Commissioner Marc Kiehna noted that during the contract negotiation process, the commissioners pulled all the stakeholders together, including police and fire chiefs, to get feedback on the ambulance service.

"We're lucky to have three hospitals in a county of 34,000," he said.