The Clark County EMS Subcommittee approved a proposal Tuesday for Heartland Ambulance Service, LLC to serve as the county’s primary ambulance provider over the next three months. Under the plan, New Chapel EMS, which is currently contracted as the main provider, would serve as a secondary provider.
Of the committee's seven members, three were absent. The four present voted in favor of the proposal.
The Clark County Commissioners will have the final say in approving a contract.
New Chapel is currently operating under a contract for service to the entire county that ends in 2025, but residents and officials have expressed growing concern about the organization’s ability to meet the county’s needs.
The Clark County Commissioners gave health officials the green light last week to negotiate with a second provider to ensure residents have EMS coverage.
New Chapel has experienced staffing shortages in recent months, amid the criminal investigation of former CEO Jamey Noel. He’s facing 31 felonies, and accusations include he used New Chapel funds and resources for personal gain.
Noel was placed on administrative leave in November 2023 and terminated in January.
The company filed a lawsuit against Noel in March related to credit card accounts Noel had opened. Current CEO Matt Owen told LPM News in April the company still had many of their assets tied up in Noel’s investigation. That includes some operational vehicles as well as non-emergency vehicles the company has been making monthly payments on, which were seized by Indiana State Police.
The new proposal assigns Heartland to provide four Advanced Life Support ambulances to the county, initially under a 90-day contract.
Under the new proposal, Clark County Health Officer Dr. Eric Yazel said New Chapel would have one to two Advanced Life Support ambulances and two to three Basic Life Support ambulances. There would also be additional backing from other local agencies.
The proposal aims to have more ambulances regularly available, with up to 10 staffed at a time. New Chapel is currently contracted for six but officials say they’re not sure they can adequately staff all of them.
“With some of the things that's been going on over the last few weeks or even months, [we said] we’ve got to do some supplementary coverage,” Yazel said after the meeting Tuesday.
County health officials have been in talks with other agencies since Noel’s arrest, to have a backup plan in case there was a disruption in service. Those talks escalated several weeks ago when New Chapel did not have any paramedic-level staff on duty for part of one day, due to a scheduling mistake.
Yazel said Heartland reached out soon after.
The current proposal is for Heartland to be paid $130,000 the first month, $110,000 the second and $103,000 the third.
New Chapel’s contract is for $87,500 per month or $1.05 million annually. It’s not yet clear how the county’s payments to New Chapel will change in light of the additional provider.
Company spokesperson S. Coy Travis was not at the meeting Tuesday but told LPM News the company is still prepared to partner with the county in whatever form that takes. Travis said the goal is to get New Chapel’s staffing back up so they might be reinstated as the primary provider in the future.
Clark County Commissioners President Bryan Glover said at Tuesday’s meeting that he feels reassured.
“I feel a lot better. I think that we’ve got some short term action,” he said “I think we’ve kind of plugged a hole in the dam that was leaking a little bit. I feel a lot more confident now. The board here is a lot more engaged in understanding what the commissioners need to actually move on things.”
Although the commissioners will have to formally approve a contract, the plan won’t have to go before the county council yet. That board has already appropriated the $1.05 million to cover EMS services for the year. The county council is responsible for approving fiscal matters.
Glover said there will need to be an additional appropriation to shore up services later in the year.
Clarification: This story has been updated to confirm how many EMS committee members were present to vote for the proposal.
Coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by Samtec Inc., the Hazel & Walter T. Bales Foundation, and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.
