Hospital Asks Cities, Counties to Consider Ambulance District

By Elena Olmstead, Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash.

Nov. 19–PROSSER — Prosser Memorial Hospital officials are getting ready to kick-start Plan B after voters rejected a levy increase to help pay for ambulance service.

They are turning to officials from Prosser, Grandview and Mabton, and Benton and Yakima counties to see if they’re interested in creating an ambulance taxing district to pay for the service.

Representatives from the five entities will be meeting at noon today at Prosser Memorial Hospital to discuss the hospital’s latest plan to cover the ambulance service, which has been facing a budget crisis since last fall.

That’s when the hospital learned that because of changes to its Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement it would be facing a $400,000 shortfall this year.

Hospital CEO Jim Tavary said the proposed taxing district only would cover areas with ambulance service — Prosser, Grandview and Mabton.

Tavary said one of the likely reasons the recent ambulance levy failed is because the increase would have been districtwide. People living in Benton City and Paterson were asked to foot the bill for a service they don’t receive. The two communities are not served by the hospital’s ambulance service.

Unofficial election results show the measure losing with 2,534 votes, or 63 percent, against it and 1,474 votes, or 37 percent, in favor.

The proposed levy would have increased the district’s levy from 40 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation to 55 cents per $1,000. The levy increase would have raised about $206,000 in its first year, about half of the money the hospital needed.

Officials hoped the rest of the money would come from Grandview, Yakima County and Mabton, which all can use Prosser ambulance services but are not located within the hospital district.

Voter approval would be needed to create a new taxing district. Tavary said he hopes to bring the issue to voters in late 2008.

Tavary said the challenge will be setting up an ambulance taxing district that crosses county lines. The district would have to be separately created in each county with residents on both sides paying the same amount, but with each county managing its own money.

Tavary said he’s really hoping today’s meeting will result in some answers. He said he hopes the cities and counties support the ambulance district idea and help to come up with a way to keep the ambulance service running in the black.

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