CCH nears deal to expand EMS service in Sheridan

GILLETTE  (WNE) — The short-term help to Sheridan’s ambulance services shortage is shaping into a longer term partnership with Campbell County.
Campbell County Health began providing inter-hospital ambulance services to Sheridan Memorial Hospital in late April and is close to securing a five-year agreement for full emergency management services to Sheridan, including response to 911 calls.
CCH and Sheridan Memorial Hospital, under the proposed joint company Northeast Wyoming Ambulance Service, entered a bid to provide full EMS services to Sheridan County and the city of Sheridan.
“We’re waiting until we get an official direction,” said CCH CEO Matt Shahan. “Everything is ready if the contract is awarded.”
In August, a joint Sheridan city and county committee recommended the bid for approval.
If approved, the joint venture would go in place and take over EMS services when the current contract, held by Rocky Mountain Ambulance, expires in November, according to the Sheridan Press.
“We felt it was a good thing for us to help a neighbor,” Shahan said. “Sheridan Memorial has been very gracious. They are very excited about the potential if we are awarded the contract.”
The $276,00 cost of first-year services would be shared by the Sheridan city and county.
After the first year of services, Northeast Wyoming Ambulance Service will share data for call volumes, revenues and expenses with its funding entities, with the option of renegotiating if necessary, said Chris Beltz, CCH director of urgent and emergent services.
“Our goal is to make it financially sustainable for the funding entities then, obviously, financially sustainable for us,” Beltz said. ““Whatever we can negotiate with them to make it sustainable for all the parties involved, that’s our goal.”
 
This story was published on Sept. 3, 2022.