Published June 22 in the Maysville Ledger Independent

Robertson County ambulance service in need of funds

By KELLY SUDZINA
Ledger Independent Staff Writer

MOUNT OLIVET — The Robertson County ambulance service needs more money – and as a last resort it may have to be leased to another provider or dropped completely.

The Robertson County Fiscal Court came to that conclusion during Friday’s meeting after a presentation by current EMS Director Jim Conley.

Conley told the court he has done everything he can for the service for the past year, including supplementing the EMS budget with his personal funds. He brought an income and expense breakdown sheet for each magistrate to see how the profits fall far below the cost. According to the data, the year’s ending total was $58,598, while expenditures amounted to $143,836.

“We’re at a negative $85,000 cash flow. That part was made up by myself (over a year). I can’t do it anymore,” Conley said. “We’re begging for money anywhere we can right now. ... We’ve not had much response yet.”

He said the staff is mailing out grant requests, as well as requests for private aid. However, grant money often cannot be used to cover payroll, which is the biggest expense of the service. Payroll over the last year cost $123,966, staffing two people 24 hours a day at $5.50 an hour each, with some overtime figured in, he said.

The problem is Robertson County has a low run volume, which generates the service’s profit margin.

“Population really hurts,” said Magistrate David Conley. “You can’t make money without runs. And you don’t want to make runs because you don’t want anybody to get sick.”

Jim Conley guessed Robertson County will average about 300 runs a year next year, which would generate more than $84,000 a year – still not enough to fully fund the service.

He asked the court for additional funds, which the magistrates said they will consider. However, Judge-Executive Bradley Gifford said the county budget simply cannot support the service, and he is afraid Jim Conley is going to have to back away as well.

“He’s losing so much money he can’t actually go forward with it. And (the county) can’t afford it. We’ve given $8,000 in the last two months,” Gifford said. “We’ve done everything possible to try to keep it. ... And we’re going to do everything we can to make it work out.”

Gifford said the solution may be to get a regional service to take over, one where the run volume of larger counties can offset that of Robertson County. A regional company called American Emergency Re-sources, based in Florence, has approached Gifford with such an offer.

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