Greene County EMS On Life Support

Residents of Greene County can still dial 9-1-1 to report a medical emergency but they are being told in may take longer than normal for a ambulance response. Services had been temporarily paused until this afternoon, when a Quick Response Vehicle (QRV) was able to be placed into service to help reduce lengthy response times by out-of-county ambulances.

Greene County leaders have been repeatedly warned about difficult conditions facing the ambulance service. At issue are maintenance of equipment, personnel, shortcomings in facilities for the base of operations, low reimbursement rates and overall low operational finances. The picture he painted was one of imminent collapse and curtailed services unless the County Commission, municipal governments, major employers and others in need of the ambulance service do something to help

That prediction came true when CGEMS temporarily suspended operations, leaving the county dependent on mutual aid responses from EMS ambulances in nearby counties. The ambulance service warns the QRV is only a stopgap measure, and a long-term solution must still be found.

A statement released by GCEMS management pointed to the problems presented in the past as the reason for the reduced service in the county of some 7,200 residents.

"We cannot run a state-compliant, life-saving service without the baseline financial resources required to do so," the agency said in its statement.

A bill sponsored by Greensboro Democrat State Senator Bobby Singleton attempting to stabilize and support financially strapped rural ambulance services was passed during this year's legislative session and signed into law by Gov. Ivey in April, but it is not effective until October 1st. It requires insurers to pay for patient assessment and treat on-site when transport to a hospital is not required. Senate Bill 269 also requires health insurers to reimburse in-network EMS providers at a minimum of 200% of the Medicare Ambulance Fee Schedule rate. The bill also limits the out-of-pocket costs for patients who call 9-1-1.

Greene County EMS has frequently operated on the brink of collapse due to patient transportation costs exceeding insurance and Medicare reimbursements and the cost of maintaining state regulations compliance.