Last year, Deer Park Ambulance used more than $18,000 just to replace an engine.
The ambulance service posted on Facebook in January hoping community members would donate to help with future repair costs, with ongoing financial strains.
“A new ambulance costs about $250,000 currently. We are not in a position to buy a new one at this time,” said Amber Jones, director of operations for the agency.
Ambulance services in Stevens County are still navigating financial uncertainty after warning the county’s commissioners of a possible “collapse.” The ambulance services include Stevens County Sheriff’s Ambulance and Deer Park Ambulance, who have been battling the rising costs to keep ambulance services running.
Fire Chief Mike Bucy of Stevens County Fire District 1 has described the emergency medical services system as a “patchwork” of coordinated services. The system includes responders from fire districts 1, 4, 5, 7 (Arden Fire Rescue), 8, 12 and Northport Fire and Rescue providing basic care until an ambulance arrives. The only current EMS levies in the county exist in fire districts 1, 4, 5, 7 and 12, which Jones emphasizes does not fund the Advanced Life Support ambulance services in Stevens County and only goes to the fire departments.
Stevens County Sheriff’s Ambulance and Deer Park Ambulance are the only advanced life support agencies in the county.
“It’s a public safety need. It needs to be there for the people,” Bucy said.
Jones said Deer Park Ambulance has been in service since 1948 and serves as the only advanced life support transport agency in southern Stevens County.
But the continuing cost of supplies, fuel and wages have affected financial stability for the EMS system.
“We did receive enough help from the community and local businesses to get one of our ambulances repaired, but we are still always in need of donations to our organization to help us with other costs, like uniforms and other repairs,” she said.
Jones said supplies have gone up almost 20% in the last two years, and that wasn’t getting better with the tariffs that had been installed by the Trump administration.
“Something has to be done to help out the ALS transport agencies in our county,” she said. “Depending on just Basic Life Support is an option. However, if your family was in the middle of a cardiac arrest or in need of ALS interventions, only two agencies can provide that.”
William Buscher, operations manager for Stevens County Sheriff’s Ambulance, echoed Jones’ stance, adding financial struggles also have been caused by low Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.
He said implementing a tax levy could alleviate financial concerns and allow the ambulance system to provide a stable, long-term service. He says Stevens County Sheriff’s Ambulance handle an estimated 3,500 calls annually.
“We’re doing OK, but we’re struggling,” Buscher said. “Eventually, we have to get tax money. There’s no way around it.”
Josh Duke, business manager for the Chewelah Rural Ambulance, which is part of the collaborative system, said while the service isn’t financially at risk right now, it would benefit from a tax levy.
“If the way things are going, the cost of everything goes up, our call volumes going up, I don’t know in the next five years if we will be around,” Duke said.
“I fully agree with the other agencies that some sort of a countywide EMS program, tax-based, would be ideal,” he said.
Rep. Andrew Engell, R-Colville, said he’s been part of a few conversations surrounding the topic, hoping to find a solution for the ambulance system’s challenges. Engell said he worked two years as a part-time ambulance driver for the Stevens County Sheriff’s Ambulance and has seen firsthand the issues the system faces.
Engell said he presented a bill this legislative session that would have created a grant program where ambulances could apply to the program, prioritizing those rural ambulances. However, the bill didn’t make it past the House Committee.
“I’m going to keep working on it. We can’t let our ambulances go out of business, but some of them are getting close,” Engell said.
Duke said the county commissioners also have been part of the EMS conversations but no progress has been made. Stevens County Commissioners Monty Stobart, Greg Young and Mark Burrows did not respond to several requests for comment on the issue – though Young had told Spokane Public Radio in a past interview that it was time for action.
“It’s been a three-year conversation that I’m sitting here going, ‘We need to quit talking about this and solve the problem.’ But how are we going to do it? Who do we need to get in the room to figure out how to solve it?” Young said in an interview last August.
Despite appearing ready to take action, Bucy said he has not identified an approach with the commissioners that would lead to a breakthrough for the county’s EMS system.
“I’ve tried a million different approaches from, you know, my extensive background in EMS and being part of various EMS services to trying to work out a solution, but I don’t know what that would take. I wish I knew,” Bucy said.
