The Starke County Commissioners remain concerned about the number of transfers by Starke County EMS personnel.
EMS Director Travis Clary reported to the commissioners on Oct. 2 that the percentage of transfers dropped from 35 or 25 percent to 10 percent in September.
Clerk Mary Lynn Ritchie said the number of transfers were down to seven percent in October.
“I tracked the next 14 days of runs that are in the office. Some are billed and some aren’t so they’re not on this report and actually the transfer ratio of those went up to 15 percent,” said Ritchie. “We had a meeting during that time and so we’re hoping that that means that we’re all on the same page. We’ll see. I’ll keep tracking those very, very closely.”
Starke County officials met with Starke Hospital representatives in October who said they would work with the county to assist the EMS service. A Porter Regional ambulance is at Starke Hospital on a constant basis.
Starke Hospital Interim CEO Jeff Fites previously told WKVI News that the hospital will continue to work with various ambulance services in addition to Starke County to meet patient needs. He said overall transfers are down, but some patients need additional care that Starke County EMS may not be able to provide. He added that some patients need to travel farther than the county’s service area.
Ambulance transfers produce a large income for the county’s EMS service.
