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The three companies are:
- Franklin County EMS (FC EMS)
- Heartland Ambulance Service (Heartland)
- Letts Volunteer Community Fire Department (Letts)
The companies were given two options for which they could provide prices:
- Ambulance service with basic life support and advanced life support provided with EMTs.
- Ambulance service with paramedics.
What's the difference between an EMT and a paramedic? A paramedic certification requires a higher level of training and paramedics are qualified to provide more advanced medical services to a patient.
The three companies submitted bids in late November. They also answered questions from the EMS review committee on December 5 in a public meeting that ended five hours later. Serving on the review committee are the following people:
- County Commissioner John Heis
- County Council President Jeff Koch
- Sheriff Major Greg Mehlbauer
- 911 Manager Jon Hundley
- Assistant Emergency Management Agency Director Bethany Luers
All of the companies indicated that they would have to hire more people in order to serve Franklin County. The companies had different timelines for when they could be staffed and ready to go. They also had different prices for the four-year contract.
While the companies were similar in several respects, their approaches were different when the EMS review committee asked, “Why do you want this contract?”
Franklin County EMS
First to be interviewed were FC EMS President Roy Rosenberger, FC EMS Board Members Bill Schirmer and Matt Montique, who is also an advanced EMT and a squad chief with FC EMS.
“Why do you want this contract?”
Mr. Rosenberger talked about his organization providing over 50 years of service and “the volunteers having a great deal of pride in what we do.” “All of our trucks have ‘neighbors helping neighbors” painted on the front. That is what we do,” said Mr. Rosenberger. “We have a lot of dedicated people in our organization who want to hold onto the volunteer service and who want to continue to volunteer.” Mr. Rosenberger stressed two points: “to provide emergency medical care for citizens of the community and to make room for the volunteers to do that.”
FC EMS is a private non-profit organization that currently holds the Franklin County contract for emergency medical service.
Photo below: A Franklin County EMS Ambulance
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If FC EMS does not win the contract, Mr. Schirmer said that the organization would keep the vehicles and the building. They would explore doing medical transports with paid employees. “We would not fold, sell and go home,” said Mr. Schirmer.
While the review committee was outside viewing a FC EMS ambulance in the government center parking lot, it left to respond to a medical emergency on Duck Creek Road.
The new EMS contract requires two ambulances on duty at all times. Mr. Schirmer told the review committee that FC EMS often has three ambulances staffed and three were on duty on that day.
The review committee had more questions for FC EMS, because the committee often asked how FC EMS operates currently in addition to how they would operate under the 2024 contract.
Click to read more about Franklin County EMS.
Heartland Ambulance Service
Representing Heartland Ambulance Service were Amish Patel, co-owner and Eric Hiatt, chief operations officer, who is also the public safety director for Union City, Indiana and a certified paramedic and firefighter.
“Why do you want this contract?”
Mr. Patel said that their business has not been the same after the COVID pandemic. Their have less transportation business with nursing homes and hospitals. They want this contract to keep their 600 employees working and to grow their company. Mr. Patel added that ambulance service is “more financially feasible” now, because Indiana increased its Medicaid reimbursement rates in July 2023.
Heartland is an ambulance service that began in Muncie, Indiana, in 2010 and it now operates nine stations in Indiana including for the city of Lawrence and Delaware County. Heartland provides medical transport service for IU Health, Saint Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis and various nursing homes. Their closest station to Franklin County is in Connersville, Indiana.
Photo below: A Heartland Ambulance
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Heartland owns Physicians Ambulance Service with two locations in Indiana. Their holding company is Paramount EMS Consulting Group in McAllen Texas that owns other ambulance services and a billing service as well as being connected to Southwest Ambulance Sales. They use computers to track wait times at hospitals. They have been hired by the federal government to respond to every hurricane since Katrina in 2005 with mass casualty transport buses. They own a mobile ICU ambulance.
Mr. Patel said that having a paramedic on the ambulance is important in rural areas so they can provide live saving intervention until the ambulance arrives at a hospital.
Click to read more about Heartland.
Letts Volunteer Community Fire Department
“Why do you want this contract?”
Matt Morrow, Chief of Letts Volunteer Community Fire Department, learned about the bidding process from the vice-president of Margaret Mary Health. Mr. Morrow said that Letts submitted a bid, because Franklin County is one of a few counties in Indiana’s district 9 without a paramedic level of service and paramedics can make a difference in rural areas. Mr. Morrow said, “We take a customer service approach to EMS. We expect the highest level from our people and we deliver the highest level of service.” Also speaking for Letts was Chris Kachur.
Photo below: County Commissioner John Heis views one of the Letts ambulances.
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Letts is a non-profit volunteer fire department located in Decatur County, Indiana, that has been in the medical transport business since 2017. They provide backup ambulance service in Decatur County when the primary trucks are busy. They are under contract for ambulance transport with Margaret Mary Health in Batesville and two Ascension Hospitals in Southeast Indiana. At various times, Letts has done medical transport for most hospitals between Ripley County and Bloomington, Indiana. They have handled 2,200 runs/transports so far this year. Letts operates a “training institute” for first responders as well as for EMTs at basic and advanced levels.
Click to read more about Letts.
The EMS review committee is due to make a recommendation to the county commissioners on December 13, 2023.
Reported by Sara Duffy
Editor’s note: The bids from the three companies were not shared with the media or the public. The information in this article is from statements made during the December 5 EMS review committee meeting and from subsequent interviews.
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No Easy Answers For Proposed Sewers
On Reservoir Road
Photo of sewer meeting. The county commissioners are on the left and the Brookville town council is on the right. John Palmer is in the center back facing the audience.
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- The town of Brookville has a $4.46 million grant for sewers, but the current town council no longer wants the sewer project.
- The Franklin County commissioners want the sewer project, because septic systems are failing on Reservoir Road, but the county does not have the grant money.
“I’m not sure we can unring that bell,” said Andy Baudendistel, attorney for Brookville town council. His comment summed up the outcome of a 90-minute joint meeting on December 4, 2023 between the Brookville town council and the Franklin County commissioners. They discussed installing a sewer line from the Brookville town limit to go up the hill on Reservoir Road into the county’s jurisdiction. It was a standing room only crowd of over 60 people in the room, a few in the hallway and 10 people watching from home via Zoom.
- Brookville Town Council did not rescind their previous vote to return a state grant of $4.46 million for new sewer lines
- The county commissioners turned to Brookville Lake Regional Waste District to see if this group would oversee a new sewer project. Ted Stubbs, BLRWD manager, had no easy answers as he spelled out several concerns. His board of directors would have to decide.
- The commissioners talked about the county leading the sewer project, and turning over the operation to BLRWD or the Brookville sewer department. The sewer line has become a priority issue for the county, because untreated wastewater on Reservoir Road was found to be flowing into a creek. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) gave the county commissioners a deadline of 30 days to submit a plan to fix the wastewater problem.
- The positive news of the night was a vote by Brookville town council in favor of the state turning over the $4.46 million grant to Franklin County to build the sewers. The town council also agreed to accept sewage from new sewer lines in the county. After this vote, Bill Schirmer was upbeat that Franklin County might not lose the grant money. Brookville’s backing out of the sewer project was only “a hiccup,” said Mr. Schirmer. He represents Franklin County on a six-county board that administers $15 million in grant money from Indiana’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI).
Photo provided of a sewer tank buried in a yard.
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Commissioner Wilson stated, “I sure hate to see $4.46 million go back.”
Click to read more about the original sewer plan, town council members’ remarks, Brookville Lake Regional Waste District’s concerns, wastewater violations and dye testing of homes.
Watch for more news as it becomes available about the sewer grant and the sewage problem on Reservoir Road.
Reported by Sara Duffy
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Christine Craig New Executive Director | |
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Last week, Christine Craig was introduced as the new executive director of Main Street Brookville, Inc. She comes to Brookville with years of experience in community development in Dearborn County and the City of Greendale. She replaces Nancy Main who is retiring. For more information about Main Street Brookville, go to Facebook.
Reported by Sara Duffy
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For the third year, Postal Clerk Carly Burckey has decorated the Cedar Grove, Indiana post office lobby and has erected a special mailbox for letters to Santa. Children, who write to Santa and provide their full address, will get a letter in reply. Ms. Burckey assists Santa in answering his mail. The last day to write to Santa will be December 21. The Cedar Grove post office lobby is open 24 hours a day to send letters to Santa.
Reported by Sara Duffy
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Photo: Linda Rosenberger, Diane Slaven, Linda Holman, Barb Walter, Becky Lanning, Marty Mullin, Becky Meyer, & Margo Feebeck.
At the November Whitewater Valley Retired Teacher Association meeting members brought hats, gloves, socks, and underwear to donate to our local elementary schools. Several members gathered to sort the donated items and then deliver them to Brookville, Laurel, Mt. Carmel, and St. Michael schools. A large bag with a variety of items was given to each school. WVRTA is a local chapter of Indiana Retired Teacher Association.
Submitted by Becky Lanning
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Driver Dies in Single-Vehicle Accident
On Thursday, December 7th at approximately 9:15 p.m., Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to investigate a single-vehicle accident in the 12,000 block of S.R. 1, just south of its intersection with Bentley Road. Upon arrival, Deputies found a 2004 Chevrolet Impala entangled in a guard rail off of the side of the road.
Through their investigation, Deputies determined that the vehicle was northbound on S.R. 1. For an unknown reason, the vehicle left the roadway, striking the guard, causing extensive damage to both the vehicle and the guard rail.
The driver of the vehicle has been identified as Alisa N. Kendrick, age 46 of Brookville. Kendrick was pronounced dead at the scene by the Franklin County Coroner’s Office. Deputies determined that Kendrick was not wearing her seatbelt. The accident is still under investigation.
S.R. 1 was closed for approximately two hours while Deputies investigated. Deputies were assisted by the Brookville Police Department, Blooming Grove and Brookville Volunteer Fire Departments, Franklin County E.M.S., and the Franklin County Coroner’s Office.
Submitted by Deputy Jason Lovins
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Franklin County Implements Vote Centers
Effective January 1, 2024, Franklin County will officially gain status as a vote center county. Wayne, Tippecanoe and Cass counties piloted the vote center program in Indiana from 2007-2010. Now, because of the success those counties experienced, both the Indiana House and Senate passed legislation that allows all Indiana counties the option of becoming a vote center county. We will implement the use of vote centers during the 2024 elections.
“I am so very excited that Franklin County has decided to make the switch to vote centers,” County Clerk Neysa Raible said. As required, we will continue to have early in-person voting 28 days before each election. Satellite voting locations will be open the two Saturdays before each election. We also plan to offer longer hours during the early in-person voting.
Simply put, vote centers are polling places where any eligible voter in the county may go to any vote center location in Franklin County and cast their ballot. Vote centers throughout the county are linked by secure connections using electronic pollbooks. The voting machines are not in any way connected to the internet.
“Ultimately, our goal is to make voting easier and more convenient for our voters.” Clerk Raible said. “As always, we value the feedback of our constituents and encourage you to voice your questions or concerns.”
To learn more about how vote centers operate, to review counties’ vote center plans or to access research on vote centers and their success, visit Vote Centers.
Submitted by County Clerk Neysa Raible
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Walk/Bike Off the Holidays
Join us on Monday January 1, at 1 pm to Walk/Bike Off the Holidays. We will gather at Third Place in Metamora for food and drinks then go for a brisk walk or bike ride on the scenic Whitewater Canal Trail. Start the New Year with family and friends and a good time.
Submitted by Shirley Lamb
Whitewater Canal Trail
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The new 13-week program begins Jan 8th at a new location - the Franklin County Senior Center. Click for all the details.
Submitted by Kathy Bauman
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Southeast Indiana Health Center - Free Clinic
We provide No-Cost, primary care services to residents of Franklin or Ripley County, Indiana on Tuesdays at our permanent location in Batesville and on Thursdays in our mobile clinic. No appointment needed. Call 812-932-4515 for times and locations.
1st Thursday of the month Brookville
2nd Thursday Versailles
3rd Thursday Laurel
4th Thursday Milan
Submitted by Bev Metze
Redlife Food Bank in Brookville
Open every second and fourth Thursday from 4 pm - 6 pm and the third Saturday from 10 am - 12 noon. Please bring your own containers.
Submitted by Judy Drake
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Submitted by Margaret Mary Health & Stayin' Alive
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