An increase in ambulance transfers has resulted in increased revenue for the Starke County EMS Department so far this year.
EMS Clerk Mary Lynn Ritchie explained to the Starke County Commissioners last week that 39 percent of the runs in the last month were transfers from the hospital. Transfers are the department’s main source of income.
With the dedicated transfer unit at Starke Hospital and the regular EMS duties, Ritchie said the revenue is much higher than at this time last year.
“That’s the highest revenue I’ve seen from this department in many moons,” said Ritchie. “We’re up $43,000. The total that we’re up for the year is $111,000 over last year’s income.”
When the Starke County EMS Department decided to purchase a new ambulance for this year, they proposed using one of their existing, older ambulances as a dedicated transfer unit at Starke Hospital. It was the hope of officials that it would increase revenue and so far that’s the case. The increase will also help pay for the employees who staff the transfer unit.
