Resident urges Tippecanoe County to bring ambulance service under county control; commissioner disputes some claims

A Tippecanoe County resident told commissioners on Feb. 2 that the county's ambulance system is understaffed and mismanaged and urged the board to make the service a county department.

"Please do the right thing. Make this a Tippecanoe County Department," Eric Germen said during public comment, arguing that Tippecanoe Emergency Ambulance Service (TEAS) operates with too few paramedics and relies too heavily on volunteer services.

Germen traced TEAS’s history back to 2011 and said recent staff losses left the service short of paramedics. He told the board he was told the county pays about $100,000 a year toward ambulances and alleged that Franciscan Health "makes all the decisions and enjoys the revenue produced by TEAS." Germen also cited "House Bill 1251," saying counties are required by law to provide emergency ambulance contracts, and urged the county to convert TEAS into a county-run department.

A commissioner responded that Germen's comments contained "several misstatements." The commissioner said TEAS's board includes representatives from IU Health, Franciscan Health, the county and the cities of Lafayette and West Lafayette and that "it's not like Franciscan is making decisions alone." The commissioner offered to meet with Germen to discuss the concerns further.

The transcript records Germen's concerns about staffing levels and governance structure but does not provide documentary evidence of current staffing numbers, the county's payment amounts beyond Germen's assertion, or the text of House Bill 1251. Commissioners did not take formal action on the issue during the meeting; the board's response was an offer of follow-up rather than a directive or a vote.

Later in the public-comment period, Eric Grossman, speaking as a county officer, urged the board to respond to emails from staff and officials, saying: "Returning emails is a sign of respect to the employees even if the response isn't what they wanna hear. It addresses problems and can preclude lawsuits and escalation of problems." Grossman framed the concern as workplace respect and administrative responsiveness rather than a specific policy change.

Next steps: Germen was offered a follow-up meeting by a commissioner; no formal investigation or directive was recorded in the meeting minutes included in the transcript.