Preston County Commission holds work session to address EMS concerns

KINGWOOD, W.Va. (WBOY) — The Preston County Commission held a work session Tuesday morning to discuss EMS issues within the county, including the recent closure of Rowlesburg’s ambulance service.

Preston County Commission President Don Smith said that during the meeting Terra Alta and KAMP ambulance companies agreed to team up to provide service in Rowlesburg to fill the gap left by the previous service.

Also during the meeting, a motion was made to redo the county’s advisory board in order to oversee how funding is administered throughout the county.

“The motion was made because no matter what we do moving forward, we have to have an advisory board established to make sure that we have an umbrella of experts…that will administer anything they do,” said Smith. “Whatever avenue or approach we take, we have to have that.”

Smith said that an advisory board was established a few years ago, but that the commission is redoing it to make sure that they have exactly what is necessary. The initial advisory board provided the county commission with data from the past few years in order to help determine how much this new board would cost.

According to Smith, the local EMS agencies were very helpful with getting that information to the commission. “We wanted to know where their shortfall is because ultimately, that’s what their problem is,” he added.

Smith said that local EMS agencies know what they’re collecting throughout the year, but said that it’s still not enough to cover their expenses. Therefore, he said that establishing this advisory board to oversee the administration of funding will help to bridge the gap between the agencies’ revenue and expenses.

Smith told 12 News that according to his calculations, the estimated cost for the advisory board would amount to approximately $1.5 million annually. However, he said that the Preston County Commission does not have that sort of funding readily available, so they must brainstorm some ideas to bring this advisory board to fruition.

“Because ultimately, you have to have money for it,” Smith added. “That’s just basically what it boils down to, someone’s gotta pay for it. No such thing as a free lunch.”

As part of this brainstorming effort, Smith told 12 News that he will email possible plans to the local EMS agencies in order to see which ideas resonate well with the community as well as which ideas may need to be revised. He said once the commission has a clear idea of what the new advisory board will look like, there will be another meeting held to appoint the individuals that will serve on it.

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