Ambulance Uncertainty Returns to Milton-Freewater
MILTON-FREEWATER - Milton-Freewater will soon be without ambulance service and it could last for months.
Mary Cooper moved to Milton-Freewater 8 years ago, but not having an ambulance service isn't something she ever expected.
“It's been unsettling somewhat for us, because my husband is handicapped and although we haven’t had to use the ambulance, having it there certainly makes us feel better,” said Cooper.
There are around 70 calls every month to the ambulance service and having those calls answered by another district is concerning locals.
“They're less than two minutes away here, and they'd be 10-20 minutes if they came from any place else,” said Cooper.
Milton-Freewater resident Bill Howard added, “Any day of the week anyone could need the ambulance service, uncertainty has been noticed throughout the community.”
The private ambulance service asked for $3,000 a month to continue operation, but on Tuesday the county said "no". That decision now means their agreement runs out at the end of the month.
“We're really close to right where we were six months ago,” said Umatilla County Emergency Manager Jim Stearns. “What our dispatch center will do would be to forward a request to an ambulance to the next nearest service, but there's no guarantee they're going to respond, they certainly aren't obligated to.”
The Milton-Freewater Emergency Medical Service told KEPR they've already cut salaries by 15% this year and even with the money coming in from the county over the past six months, it wasn't enough to keep them out of the red.
The service hasn't officially said it will stop operation come November, but locals like Cooper are gearing up for an uncertain future.
“We'd be willing to chip in some way, and I hate to say this but even if we have to pay more in taxes,” added Cooper.
And that's what it might take. One solution to the problem is a tax to pay for the service. The vote for that is next month, but even if it's passed, it would take up to another year to gather the money to fund the ambulance company.
Mary Cooper moved to Milton-Freewater 8 years ago, but not having an ambulance service isn't something she ever expected.
“It's been unsettling somewhat for us, because my husband is handicapped and although we haven’t had to use the ambulance, having it there certainly makes us feel better,” said Cooper.
There are around 70 calls every month to the ambulance service and having those calls answered by another district is concerning locals.
“They're less than two minutes away here, and they'd be 10-20 minutes if they came from any place else,” said Cooper.
Milton-Freewater resident Bill Howard added, “Any day of the week anyone could need the ambulance service, uncertainty has been noticed throughout the community.”
The private ambulance service asked for $3,000 a month to continue operation, but on Tuesday the county said "no". That decision now means their agreement runs out at the end of the month.
“We're really close to right where we were six months ago,” said Umatilla County Emergency Manager Jim Stearns. “What our dispatch center will do would be to forward a request to an ambulance to the next nearest service, but there's no guarantee they're going to respond, they certainly aren't obligated to.”
The Milton-Freewater Emergency Medical Service told KEPR they've already cut salaries by 15% this year and even with the money coming in from the county over the past six months, it wasn't enough to keep them out of the red.
The service hasn't officially said it will stop operation come November, but locals like Cooper are gearing up for an uncertain future.
“We'd be willing to chip in some way, and I hate to say this but even if we have to pay more in taxes,” added Cooper.
And that's what it might take. One solution to the problem is a tax to pay for the service. The vote for that is next month, but even if it's passed, it would take up to another year to gather the money to fund the ambulance company.
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