The Kossuth County Board of Supervisors were asked to look into the transportation of mental health patients in ambulatory care vehicles. The agreement would be through the Kossuth Regional Health Center. Kossuth County Emergency Medical Services Administrator Phil Albers appeared before the supervisors to discuss the issue.
The question as to whether this was possible boiled down to one of funding. Kossuth County Auditor Tammy Eden stated that the county taxpayers are paying for the EMS services. If they were to start transporting something that was not funded that way, what would be the implications?
Board Vice Chair Carter Nath of the First District echoed the concerns citing that there were two separate funds involved here.
Albers explained that the grant was written to accommodate both.
Winnebago County uses a county owned vehicle and not an EMS vehicle to travel to and evaluate mental health patients.
Transporting the mental health patients will change insurance rates for the Kossuth County EMS. Other expenses would have to be dealt with too according to Albers.
The board will further examine the situation before making a determination.
