Supervisors back letter supporting ambulance certificate extension despite objections

The Washington County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 19 approved a resolution authorizing the chairman to sign a letter of support for an application to extend an ambulance service certificate of need for a local rescue squad. The resolution (number 3-15) was moved and seconded and carried after roll call.

Supervisor Charles Hall announced he would vote no, saying the action appeared to allow a not-for-profit organization to move into for-profit patient transport and that doing so could affect county mutual-aid arrangements. "This is an attempt by a not-for-profit organization to move into the for-profit business," Hall said. "If they wanna do that… then instead of trying to utilize the systems that's designed for our EMS services, they should form the actual transport of patient business … not skirting it and trying to add it to the not-for-profit."

Other supervisors defended the measure and the motion was adopted. The transcript records a roll call with a mix of yes and no responses; specific numeric tallies in the text are inconsistent and partially garbled, but the clerk announced the resolution adopted.

What changed: The board authorized its chairman to send the requested letter of support. The transcript does not record further details of the squad’s application, proposed operational changes, or the text of the letter.

Next steps: No further procedural date on the application is recorded in the meeting transcript; staff or the applicant would pursue state-level certificate processes as applicable.