FD 14, Lewiston wrap ambulance pact

A two-year agreement for ambulance service in the south end of Whitman County has been approved by Fire District 14 and the City of Lewiston. The two-year pact was part of an overall revision of the Lewiston Ambulance Service contracts which were concluded with several entities in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley.

Chief Jim Dahmen said fire commissioners in District 14 approved their part of the overall agreement before the action by the Lewiston City council last week.

Dahmen said the agreement calls for District 14 to pay $5,000 to underwrite ambulance service in the district. The sum helps Lewiston cover costs for service to the district.

Dahmen, who has been chief of the district since 1980, said Lewiston billed patients directly for the transport but realized they were not covering the costs of the runs because some of the bills were never collected.

The payment by the district will help cover the cost gap.

“I think it’s a pretty fair deal, overall,” Dahmen commented.

Dahmen said Fire District 14, which matches the Colton School district and includes the towns of Uniontown and Colton, began to opt for the Lewiston service in the 1990s because they offered staffing by paramedics on the ambulance runs.

He noted the Lewiston ambulance transports district residents to the hospital of their choice, including Pullman and Moscow hospitals. Because of geography, the two hospitals in the Lewiston-Clarkston valley receive many of patients from the south end of Whitman County. He noted District 14 extends down to the river and the Wawawai area.

In 2008, Lewiston ambulances logged 26 transports in the district.

Dahmen said negotiations involving the ambulance service have been underway for about the past 18 months. He noted District 14 has been operating with Lewiston under a contract which expires at the end of this year.

The new contract will be $5,000 for next year and include cost adjustments, expected to be in the two to four percent range, for 2011.

Lewiston discovered in the spring of 2008 they had lost about $370,000 as they provided ambulance service to Asotin County, Asotin, Clarkston, Nez Perce County and District 14. They’ve since spent the time negotiating contracts with each of those entities.

Lewiston originally asked District 14 for $8,000 plus a cost increase to continue providing ambulance service. The district came up with a counter-offer of $5,000 plus the cost increase for 2011.

The city voted in favor of the $5,000 contract.

An average ambulance run costs more than $600, and Lewiston can only recover a portion of the cost, about $330, from Medicare and Medicaid. Dahmen said transports for District 14 can run in the $700 to $800 range depending on location and service needs.

The biggest loss for Lewiston was ambulance service to Clarkston, with Asotin County, Nez Perce County and Asotin following.