Charles City, Floyd County Ambulance Feasibility Study Advances

Floyd County and the City of Charles City appear ready to move forward with a feasibility study on whether to stay with their private ambulance provider or start up their own public ambulance service.

The City and County recently approved a new contract with AMR in which the municipalities will subsidize the ambulance operation by splitting $530,000 for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, starting July 1st; an increase of 20% over the current fiscal year. That subsidy is also to go up by 3% for each year for the following two years as part of a three-year agreement.

Last week (05.26), the City Council and Floyd County Board of Supervisors met in a special session, along with the Floyd County Ambulance Commission to hear from two companies vying for the study. Tim Nowak with Emergency Management Solutions noted the City and County are at a tipping point with AMR.

Council Patrick Lumley said a municipal ambulance service is overdue, but is financially challenging in the wake of two failed EMS tax levy votes.

Lumley also asked Nowak about when a public ambulance could break even financially.

Floyd County Medical Center CEO Dawnett Willis, a member of the ambulance commission, said that’s one reason the feasibility study is necessary.

Mayor Dean Andrews noted one major question has yet to be answered.

While the consensus of the City Council and Board of Supervisors is to move forward with the ambulance study, no decisions were made official, with the Ambulance Commission asked to consider the propsosals of Emergency Management Solutions and  Public Consulting Group and make a recommendation on which company to hire.