By Jayson Jacoby
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY, Ore. 鈥� The Baker City Fire Department has transported a patient by a city-owned ambulance on two occasions this summer, and the regional manager for Pioneer Ambulance, the local ambulance provider, said he will recommend the Baker City Council allow the fire department to regain its ambulance license.
That would allow the city to be reimbursed for ambulance transports in the 鈥渧ery, very rare鈥� cases when that鈥檚 needed, said Tim Novotny, regional manager for Pioneer (formerly Metro West).
City Manager Barry Murphy said he will discuss the situation with city councilors during their regular meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 27, at City Hall, 1655 First St.
Novotny said he will speak to the council and endorse the idea if asked during Tuesday鈥檚 meeting.
Murphy initially broached the topic during the council鈥檚 June 11 meeting.
Baker County commissioners, who by state law are responsible for choosing ambulance providers, hired Metro West in June 2022 after a previous city council, prompted by then-city manager Jonathan Cannon, decided to discontinue ambulance service, something the city fire department had done for nearly a century.
Cannon told councilors that he didn鈥檛 believe the city could afford to continue having a dual-role fire department that responds to fires as well as ambulance calls.
Because the fire department had far more ambulance calls than fires 鈥� about 80% of calls were for an ambulance 鈥� the city had to lay off several firefighters. Most of the others resigned in 2022 or the first half of 2023.
The city has since hired several new firefighters.
Ending the ambulance service has been a financial loss for the city, however. Ambulance bills brought in about $1 million to the city鈥檚 general fund per year, but the fire department鈥檚 budget has dropped by about half that much since 2022. Loss of ambulance revenue has contributed to the general fund shortfall that prompted councilors to impose a public safety fee, of $10 per month for residential customers and $20 for businesses, starting June 1.
Both Novotny and Murphy said they know of two instances this summer when the fire department transported a patient in a city ambulance.
In one case, Novotny said, one Pioneer crew was on a call to Huntington, while the other was in Unity.
The county commissioners hired Pioneer for both the Baker ambulance service area, which covers more than half of the county, including Baker City, as well as the Huntington area. There are separate ambulance service areas for the Eagle and Pine Valley areas.
When a 911 call came in from Baker City, the fire department responded with an ambulance, Novotny said.
He said the fire department has both the equipment and the trained emergency personnel needed to operate an ambulance.
鈥淲e were fortunate they were there,鈥� Novotny said. 鈥淭hey want to serve the community. We鈥檙e advocating for this.鈥�
Pioneer has four ambulances in Baker City, two of which are staffed at all times, Novotny said.
The others can be used if needed when there is a crew available for a third or fourth ambulance, and as backups in case one of the two primary ambulances has a mechanical problem, he said.
Having the fire department available is 鈥渧ery beneficial鈥� even though the circumstances are very rare when the city ambulance is needed, Novotny said.
He said Pioneer鈥檚 crews will notify the fire department in situations when the city ambulance could be called.
Murphy said the fire department has three firefighters who are paramedics, and all employees have at least an EMT-basic certification.
Murphy said the two cases in which a city crew transported a patient were treated as emergencies from a potential liability standpoint 鈥� basically the same as if a civilian drove an injured person to the hospital in a private vehicle. But Murphy said he wants the city to have a 鈥渃odified鈥� agreement with the county and Pioneer regarding the city鈥檚 role.
Shane Alderson, chairman of the county board of commissioners, said he鈥檚 aware of the discussions and agreed that commissioners need to be involved.
Novotny said the city would need to regain its state license for an ambulance to be reimbursed for ambulance transports.
Murphy said there could potentially be more calls for the city ambulance during winter, when inclement weather could ground Life Flight aircraft and require Pioneer to use its ambulances to transport patients to hospitals out of the county.
Novotny agreed that having a city ambulance available could make it easier for Pioneer to handle transports to other hospitals.
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