Crook County takes closer look at creating EMS district

SUNDANCE — The Crook County Board of Commissioners continues to gather information on creating an emergency services district that would provide funding to the ambulance services around the county.

Representatives from all county EMS services were once again in attendance at last week’s meeting, this time with facts and figures about how their departments run – and whether they have the money to keep doing so.

An EMS district, said Commissioner Fred Devish, would be a “constant funding stream for EMS in this county.”

However, he stressed that the fact-finding portion of this exercise does not mean the commission will be voting to institute a mill levy. In fact, he explained, “It goes to the people.”

If the commissioners pursue this avenue, he said, it will need to appear on a ballot for voters to decide.

Individual Services

Each of Crook County’s towns has its own, unique ambulance service. The commission heard from all of them individually regarding their needs and goals.

Brad McKee, representing Moorcroft, reiterated his concern that EMS is not deemed an essential service in the State of Wyoming. Wyoming residents can’t sue anyone if an ambulance does not turn up when they call, he said, because nobody is obligated to provide them with one.

McKee stated that Moorcroft foresees problems down the road due to property tax cuts, which he estimated will lead to a loss of revenue for the town of $23,000 to $26,000 per year in the funds that are used for police, fire and ambulance.

Moorcroft’s service is not able to recoup its costs, he said.

Of the $84,000 that was billed last year, only $16,000 was paid.

Volunteerism is dwindling, he said. At this time, he has six active volunteers, but all have full-time jobs; this makes it necessary to often rely on other county services to supplement.

“We’re trying, but my fear is…if we don’t do something, within the next five years we could be in a worse spot,” he said.

McKee’s desire, he said, would be to pay two EMTs to be available on Monday to Wednesday and Thursday to Saturday, with volunteers working around these permanent hours.

Jason Perry of Hulett said that his department is not in as dire straits at this time, but he is concerned that “for us, it’s going to take one domino to fall.”

Hulett has six volunteers at this time and heavily relies on donations from the community, which Perry said have been extremely generous but “could dry up at any time.”

Hulett offers a paramedic service, which is at a higher level than Moorcroft, due to Hulett’s distance from medical services.

Perry noted that ambulances could be an issue in the future, as the newest one in service in Hulett is a 2011; it currently costs between $200,000 and $500,000 for a new ambulance, he said.

Equipment is also pricey, he added. The contents of the Hulett ambulance are insured at $150,000.

Dusty Downey of Pine Haven commented, “I think the idea of some consistency in funding is extremely important.”

Pine Haven’s service is currently a little short-handed, he said, with just two EMTs; however, both have jobs that keep them fairly close to home and two more may be coming on this summer.

The biggest expense for the department, Downey said, is contingency money for the future need of a new ambulance.

Pine Haven EMS was completely funded by the town until recently, he said, when the department began billing for its services. Right now, the budget is pretty balanced.

For Pine Haven, providing EMS services is a little different, Downey said. For eight months of the year, things are fairly quiet and there are very few calls, but once Keyhole becomes busy, it’s not unusual to get back-to-back calls – or even calls coming in at the same time.

Speaking for Sundance, Anthony Vopat said that the department run by Crook County Medical Services District operates a full-time ambulance and cost-shares the staff required to run it with other departments in the hospital.

“We don’t have a very deep bench,” he said, so even with paid employees, Sundance can find itself relying on Hulett for assistance.

In terms of costs, the Sundance department operated at a $75,000 loss last year.

“I see it as an investment for EMS service in our entire county,” he commented.

Autonomous Departments

Downey raised the issue of autonomy if every ambulance service were to come under a single umbrella. Would this mean that they would all need to function in the same way?

Having full-time coverage from a paid employee, for example, wouldn’t work as well for Pine Haven as it would for Moorcroft. That employee would be sitting around for eight months of the year but then wouldn’t be able to cover the Keyhole season single handedly.

Mayor Karla Brandenburg agreed, telling the commissioners that she feels the Pine Haven service does well thanks to Downey and because property values are pretty high in the town, it would be possible for Pine Haven to pay more but receive less service.

Devish acknowledged that “every ambulance service is different,” while Commissioner Bob Latham said, “I think we can set up a district just about any way we want.”

County Attorney Joe Baron confirmed this.

“It would be up to the EMS board,” he said. “They can set it up and operate it essentially as they see fit.”

Even Crook County’s boards demonstrate a range of approaches, he said.

When Crook County Museum District was set up, all three museums gave their interests to the district to own and their directors became its employees.

At the other end of the scale, Baron continued, the Crook County Senior Services District simply passed the collected money on to the individual communities to be used as they see fit.

Baron also confirmed that the Sundance service could still request money despite being run by the county medical services district.

The general consensus in the room appeared to be that the model in which the district controlled the money and each service maintained its identity would fit best.

Devish ended the conversation by saying that the commission would continue to gather information. In the end, he again reminded those in the room, it will be up to the voters to decide what kind of an ambulance service they wish the county to have.

This story was published on May 15, 2025.