CRHD asked to come back in January

Representatives from Castle Rock Hospital District were asked to return in January for another discussion on whether or not the county would continue to subsidize the district’s ambulance service.

During the Sweetwater County commissioners meeting Tuesday, the commissioners spoke with district representatives about subsidizing the ambulance service for another six months from January through June.

CRHD CEO Bailie Dockter said they have been attending the workshops about the possibility of combining the ambulances services in Sweetwater County and were waiting to find out which way to county was going to proceed. Dockter said she was recently informed by Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County that it doesn’t intend to take over the county’s ambulance service.

“That seemed to make the most sense,” she said.

However, with that no longer an option, Dockter said they decided to seek funding from the commissioners. Dockter said they usually request $301,000 for the year, but the last time CRHD visited with the board, they were only given money for six months so the county could discuss the ambulance service problem.

“We are committed to providing quality ambulance service,” CRHD trustee Dan Stanton said. “We’ve been working through this issue for over a year now.”

The issue Stanton is referring to is CRHD paying $35,000 a month to run the ambulance service.

Stanton said they agree the way to alleviate the cost problem is to combine the services into one.

“We’d like to be apart of that county-wide solution,” Stanton said.

Commissioner Jeffrey Smith asked what the district’s 3 mill-levy covers and how much they receive a year from it.

Dockter said they receive about $2.6 million for the year, which is used to pay for CRHD and the ambulance service. The mills were put into place when CRHD was only funding the clinic.

“We inherited the ambulance when the city dumped it on us,” Chairman Bob Gordon said.

Gordon was asked by the commissioners if they have approached the Green River City Council to help out with the ambulance service.

“They can’t even pave the streets over here,” Gordon said.

Gordon said they did speak with the city, but wouldn’t elaborate.

After more discussion, the commissioners asked Dockter if they could come back in January. This would give the commissioners time to review everything and have a better idea of where they county’s ambulance service is going.