By Savannah Tryens-Fernandes
al.com
GREEENE COUNTY, Ala. — Ambulance services in rural Greene County are back up and running after a brief suspension due to a funding crisis.
Last week, local and state officials secured money for two new ambulances from the state’s Emergency Medical Services office. One of the ambulances is operational while the other is expected to arrive in the county later this week.
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Garria Spencer, chair of the Greene County Commission, said that while both ambulances will help in the short term to ensure patients get to the hospital, they are not a long-term fix to a problem that has long plagued rural counties across the state.
“We got to get a source of income to make this thing stable,” Spencer told AL.com.
Over the July 4 holiday weekend, the county’s Emergency Medical Services in Eutaw announced that a “critical lack of funding” had prevented them from maintaining their existing ambulances. The ambulances were considered out of compliance with the state and could not operate.
Residents were told there was only one quick response vehicle available to take patients to the hospital, and they “should expect significantly delayed response times” for emergencies.
Spencer said local leaders spent $70,000 for the two replacement ambulances.
The rest of the costs were covered by a grant funded by the Alabama State Legislature and administered by the Alabama Office of EMS, the regional EMS Office and the Regional EMS Council, Jamie Gray, the State EMS Director, told AL.com.
“These ambulances were provided in response to an identified need within Greene County EMS resulting from mechanical issues affecting the agency’s existing fleet,” Gray said in a statement. “The additional units ensure the continued delivery of emergency medical services to the citizens of Greene County while the agency’s existing ambulances undergo necessary repairs.”
“Once those repairs are completed, Greene County EMS will have an expanded fleet, providing additional frontline response capability as well as dedicated backup units to enhance operational readiness.”
Alabama has the second-lowest number of ambulance stations per capita in the country, according to a 2023 report by the Rural Health Research and Policy Centers.
Of the state’s 67 counties, 64 are considered to be in an ‘ambulance desert,’ impacting over 300,000 people, mostly in rural communities. Many rural counties have lost medical services in recent years as hospitals downsized or closed completely.
Pickens County, to the north, announced in 2024 that it was down to one ambulance due largely to low insurance payments.
“The biggest clients that the ambulances have in Greene County are Medicaid and Medicare patients,” said Spencer. “We have got to have a source of income other than what they’re billing because they’re just not billing enough to make it work, and that’s not only true in Greene County.”
In May, Pickens County residents voted in favor of an annual $10 vehicle tag fee dedicated to funding local ambulance services.
Spencer said that could be part of the solution for Greene County. He also pointed to a law that was passed in April that will allow ambulance service operators to be paid for providing basic life support without transporting patients.
That law was sponsored by State Sen. Bobby Singleton, who represents parts of Greene County.
“That’s going to help, but that’s not gonna solve it,” he said.
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