Floyd County Medical Center to Chip in Again for Charles City/Floyd County Ambulance Subsidy
Three separate meetings Monday (04.15) in Charles City all had one agenda item in common: financing the subsidy paid to the private ambulance service provider for the City of Charles City and Floyd County.
In recent years, the City and the County have split a payment of $200,000 to help the operating costs of AMR Ambulance. With a new contract that went into effect July 1, 2023, that subsidy more than doubled to $415,000.
Fortunately, for the City and the County, Floyd County Medical Center (FCMC) committed $100,000 to that subsidy, thus lowering costs for the two municipalities. However, FCMC initially said that financial assistance would only be for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
During their meeting Monday, Floyd County Supervisors discussed asking FCMC to continue that commitment with $103,000 for the 24-25 fiscal year and $106,000 for the 25-26 fiscal year. Those raises in contributions equal the three-percent annual increase the City and County will also pay AMR come July 1st in each of the next two years of the current contract.
Board Chair Mark Kuhn said a joint effort is vital to continuing ambulance service.
The Charles City City Council took up the subject Monday night during their regular meeting, during which Councilman Keith Starr, also chair of the Ambulance Commission, commended FCMC’s involvement in addressing the ambulance situation.
Kuhn took the subsidy request to the FCMC Board of Trustees, which also met Monday night and approved the hospital’s monetary contribution in each of the next two fiscal years.
