Pitt County commissioners voted 7-0 to assume operations of Ayden EMS’s territory effective July 1 and fund the hiring of eight paramedics.
Pitt County had been contracting with Ayden EMS for the service, paying the nonprofit with revenue generated from a 5.95-cent per $100 valuation tax paid by all Pitt County residents living outside Greenville.
County Emergency Management Director Randy Gentry told commissioners on Monday he wants to have the eight paramedics in place by May so they can start training and be prepared by July 1.
The county will need $84,000 to pay the new employees through the end of the current fiscal year, Gentry said. The funding will be covered by salary reserve in the current EMS budget.
The plan is for the new county-operated squad to be based out of Ayden EMS’s existing facilities in a building shared with the Ayden Fire Department, Gentry said in a later interview.
Ayden EMS Chief Chandler Sutton in a Jan. 31 letter to commissioners requesting the change said it’s becoming “increasingly difficult to maintain a qualified staff of personnel … The changing conditions are simply too much to bear for a part-time organization.”
It takes 18-24 months to become a trained paramedic, said Jim McArthur, deputy emergency management director/EMS coordinator.
State law makes county governments responsible for providing emergency medical services, Gentry said.
Ten EMS squads currently operate in Pitt County, excluding Greenville. Ayden and seven other community squads act as contractors with the county and receive a portion of the EMS tax revenue. Pitt County directly operates EMS services in Bethel and Pactolus.
Commissioners Beth Ward, Benji Holloman, Christopher Nunnally, Mark Smith, Melvin McLawhorn, Mary Perkins-Williams and Ann Floyd Huggins voted to approve assuming operations and fund the new staffing. Commissioners Lauren White and Tom Coulson were absent.
The commissioners also voted 7-0 to hire Colleton Billing Inc. to handle all the county’s EMS billing.
Gentry said during planning for the upcoming fiscal year 2024-25 budget, discussions started about how the county can improve EMS bill collections.
It was decided a third-party service should be employed “because they are experts in the field and keep up with the ever changing rules regarding insurance billing along with Medicaid and Medicare,” Gentry said.
Three companies, two which are based in North Carolina were interviewed, Gentry said. Colleton Billing Inc. is the staff recommendation.
The company’s fee is 4.25 percent of net collection and $11 flat fee for Medicaid transports.
“The estimated annual cost is similar to our current cost of billing and collections,” Gentry said. “It’s estimated our collections could increase by $750,000 or more,” Gentry said.
The estimated annual cost will be between $108,000 to $110,000, said Deputy County Manager/CFO Sam Croom.
The board voted 7-0 to approve.
The board also voted 7-0 to reclassify 11 positions within emergency management so their salaries will be competitive. The positions are telecommunicator I, telecommunicator supervisor, deputy director-communications, deputy director-fire, basic EMT, advanced EMT, paramedic, senior paramedic, community paramedic, EMS supervisor and deputy director-EMS.
The changes will go into effect May 12, County Manager Janis Gallagher said. The salary increases will cost an additional $293,000 annually, she said. About $32,400 from the EMS Fund and existing budget will be needed to fund the increases through the remainder of the current fiscal year.
Public hearings
The commissioners approved authorizing the issuance of limited obligation bonds up to $17 million. The county will now submit the request to the Local Government Commission for final approval.
The county approved Pitt Solar LLC’s request to apply conditional zoning to 133 acres of property on both sides of Wadie Carson Road, near Bethel said it can be part of a solar farm project the company wants to build.
Other actions
Matt Gibson, joined by his wife and children, was formally sworn in as Pitt County’s new county attorney.The commissioners recognized new Eagle Scouts Drew Owens, Ryan Mangum, Connor Hall and John DuBose.Olivia Wallace, a student at Chicod School, received a certificate of appreciation for being a winner of the National Association of Counties “I Love My County Because” art contest.Proclamations were presented recognizing March as National Social Work Month and April 1-7 as Public Health Week.Kayla Manning, a public health nursing supervisor, was recognized as Pitt County’s March Employee of the Month.
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