Starke County EMS Bringing In The Bucks

Paul Mathewson

The Starke County EMS Department is still bringing in more money to the county’s general fund than they had anticipated for this year, as the department has already raked in $622,728 through the end of November – more than $60,000 over their projected revenue for the year.

This has led to the county’s general fund being above the expected collections, and Commissioner Kathy Norem said it was largely due to the new Advanced Life Support service offered by the EMS Department.

EMS Director Paul Mathewson explained that November was a good month for his department, despite being a little slower than October. He said he expects things will get a bit busier in December and January as the snow begins to fall, and with another month of collections, the total revenue collected for the year can only increase further. Mary Lynn Ritchie of the EMS Department told the county commissioners this week that they are hoping to break $700,000 by the end of the year.

The department has also been keeping busy with some internal changes, including a few modifications of protocols in dealing with the hospital and Mathewson said they will be trimming their roster. He explained that the department has a number of employees listed on the roster that haven’t worked in a number of months and it would make things more organized to have them removed.

On top of that, Mathewson said he is currently working on a truck status report with details on maintenance and repairs on each of the department’s trucks.