FAYETTEVILLE -- Central EMS staff members will compile more information on plans for a new headquarters before asking city and county leaders or taxpayers for money, Chief Becky Stewart said.
The Washington County Regional Ambulance Authority board asked for more details during its regular meeting in April. Central EMS wants a new, larger headquarters to maintain the same level of service as ambulance calls increase along with the county's population.
About Central EMS
Central EMS has served in Washington County as the advanced life support ambulance service since 1980. The service covers about 920 square miles that includes Fayetteville, Elkins, Farmington, Goshen, Greenland, Lincoln, Prairie Grove, Tontitown, Johnson, West Fork and Winslow. The service also covers the University of Arkansas and more than 30 miles of Interstate 49.
Source: Central EMS
Calls for service increased to 21,347 in 2017 from 21,056 the year before, according to a 2017 annual report. The volume of calls is expected to grow by 50 percent to 32,000 in the next five years, another Central EMS record shows.
Stewart has said she wants a headquarters that will meet the area's needs for the next 30 years. Central EMS needs a 30,606-square-foot facility to house operations, maintenance, ambulance bays, storage and parking, she said.
A facility like that would cost about $6 million, which the ambulance service doesn't have, said Sonny Hudson, Prairie Grove mayor.
Central EMS could increase the fees cities pay for the service, increase user fees, create an ambulance district with a millage rate, ask the public for a sales tax increase or ask the county for a property tax increase, staff and executive committee members have said.
Doing nothing will hinder its ability to attract and keep good employees and affect the service's overall quality, according to a Central EMS report presented to the authority last month. The system "has reached its maximum capacity and is limited by inefficient and outdated building accommodations," according to the report.
The Ambulance Authority isn't ready to approve the new facility or discuss funding options.
Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan said Central EMS needs an appraisal of Station 1, which could be sold to offset costs for a new headquarters, and must provide numbers on how a new station would impact service.
"When you go in talking about a tax, you've got to explain to the people why they are doing it and what they are doing," Jordan said. "We don't, right now, have what I would consider a plan."
Fayetteville is a member of the authority. The Fayetteville fire chief heads the authority board's executive committee.
The seven-member executive committee oversees day-to-day operations of the ambulance system and meets monthly. Members, who are appointed, include representatives for the county, large and small cities and the medical and financial professions.
Stewart said she will get an appraisal on Station 1 and provide more information from the other options the executive committee has considered for over a year. The committee meets monthly to look over Central EMS operations, needs and finances.
Committee members have checked out buildings, looked at renovating Station 1 and reviewed buying land. So far, none of the vacant buildings fit Central EMS's needs, Hudson said.
Committee members recently toured the Fayetteville Police Department, which may become vacant if the city decides to move police to a new space, Hudson said. Jordan and Hudson said an option might be to use part of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, which is leased from Washington County.
Either way, the authority needs more details, Jordan said.
"This is not something you do overnight," Jordan said. "I'm not going to vote on something real quick."
NW News on 05/07/2018