Council reinstates subsidy

The Monroe County Council backed down on its plan to cut off funding to the Bloomington Hospital Ambulance Service Monday. With a 6-1 vote, it reinstated the county's annual subsidy of $118,136 to the service, which has run a deficit for years.\nHospital officials greeted the decision with relief. The service already rests on shaky financial ground.\n"We're glad to have the funding from the county," said Larry Bailey, the hospital's chief operating officer. "It's only a small portion of the budget, but there's also the symbolism."\nThe ambulance service has run up a deficit nearing $1 million, which the hospital will pay off out of its own general operating budget. Bailey said the hospital has recently imposed cost-cutting measures on the service that should save around $100,000.\n"We'll be tightening our belt here and there," he said. "There are no cuts in coverage, but trips out to the Lake Monroe area will be curtailed somewhat."\nWhile the 22-year-old ambulance service has been in the red for at least a decade, director David DeGroote said the deficit has spiraled in recent years because of Medicaid refusals to pick up ambulance run charges. Three years ago, DeGroote said the deficit stood at only $80,000.\nThe council unexpectedly killed the much-needed subsidy at its Aug. 15 budgetary meeting with a 4-3 vote. Councilman David Hamilton proposed zeroing out the subsidy to divert funding to the city-county emergency dispatch center.\nThe council pointed out that the hospital, a not-for-profit entity, can collect fees from township fire departments to cover costs. But the move -- widely viewed as an unnecessary cut of a vital public service -- sparked public outrage.\nAnd hospital officials later noted that the ambulance service's contract runs out at the end of the year. Bailey publicly suggested cancellation of the service as an option.\nAfter a number of angry phone calls and e-mails, the council took up the subject again Monday at its afternoon budgetary hearing. It reinstated the subsidy with only Democrat Scott Wells dissenting.\nWells said he wanted to cut funding to $60,000 and spend the remainder on hiring two new guards at the Monroe County Correctional Institute. Even Hamilton shied away from his original proposal.\nThe service, which has an annual operating budget of $2.5 million from several sources, makes about 19,000 runs a year. Roughly 8,000 runs are made as assisted medical transports, while the lion's share is emergency medical runs.\nThe hospital maintains three ambulances 24 hours a day and two others at peak hours, Bailey said. The service employs about 48 people full-time and 34 part-time. \nFor the 2001 fiscal year, the service received a $115,000 subsidy from the county. It requested only a $3,000 increase, less than the pace of inflation.\nThe deficit threatens to swallow up hospital resources, Bailey said. Officials are now looking at seeking alternative revenue sources and stepping up lobbying efforts at the statehouse.