LEE COUNTY - Lee County EMS Director Dennis Cosby said overtime at the county-owned ambulance is running higher this week due to extra staffing needs with Keokuk no longer having an Emergency Room in the city.
At Monday's regular meeting, Cosby updated supervisors on how things were progressing with emergency calls in the city.
"It was better than I expected. We did have a few holes in the schedule here and there for a few hours, but it actually went fairly well," he said.
"We are paying more overtime because we don't have other folks hired yet."
He said the county has received a large array of applications after offering to pay for training.
"We'll start shuffling through those this week and start setting up interviews."
The county has also narrowed its search for a facility to property owned by Eric Freitag in Keokuk. The property sits on about .7 acres between the Honda Motorsports dealership and Two Rivers Veterinary clinic.
Freitag is asking for $200,000 for the property and then the county is looking at possibly $100,000 to $150,000 in renovations and improvements to be able to house the two ambulances.
Supervisor Chuck Holmes asked if Freitag would consider buying the property on contract so the county could pay for it out of the general fund.
Supervisor Chairman Matt Pflug asked Budget Director Cindy Renstrom if the general fund could handle the purchase. Renstrom said things would get tight if that's how the county moved forward.
Supervisor Garry Seyb said Freitag was being very flexible with the county to be able to get in and make renovations.
"For me, the Freitag property is the one that will work the best. It's cost effective and the location is good," Seyb said.
He did express concern about the left turn out onto the highway, but said it had great access to all points of Keokuk.
Seyb said he looked at several properties. Cosby said that facility also seems to be the best fit for the service.
Lee County grant writer Chuck Vandenberg said recent conversations with USDA Rural development specialists indicated there could be a possibility of some reimbursements on the building as well as the rapid-response vehicle that was approved at last week's meeting.
"We had a very good conversation with the specialists there and we are eligible for some funding if we can turn it all back to the pandemic," he said.
Keokuk's low-middle income levels would qualify for up to a 55% reimbursement, however the rest of Lee County only qualifies for 35% reimbursement based on those income levels.
Vandenberg said the county could make the case that the Keokuk facility is geared toward supporting that service area's emergency needs, however it would still be part of the county service.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here