Settlement Approved By County Board w/Altamont Ambulance

The Effingham County Board Wednesday approved an agreement with Altamont Ambulance Service that ends an ongoing dispute between the two that led to filing of a lawsuit by the ambulance service against the County Board and a countersuit by the Board against the ambulance service.

The terms of the settlement agreement are subject to a confidentiality clause.

One provision of the agreement is the assignment of exclusive rights to provide ambulance services in the county by Altamont Ambulance and Effingham City-County Ambulance Service to Abbott Ambulance Incorporated of St. Louis. The release indicates there will be a "transition period" of 60-90 days for the transfer to be completed.

The County Board's attorney in the matter, Chris Koester of Effingham, said current employees of the ambulance service will be interviewed by Abbott for a job with the new service.

Koester said residents "will be pleasantly surprised with the locations of the service, the equipment, and the service provided." Today's press release indicates Abbott is currently taking steps to secure new facilities within Effingham County.

As a provision of the agreement, a new contract will be executed by the County Board with Abbott Ambulance. The contract will be for five years, and Koester said it will be subject to provisions that could shorten or lengthen the duration of the contract. He said, "there will be provisions for either side to end the agreement, should it be necessary."

The release reads that "Since 2013, the Effingham Ambulance Oversight Committee has been researching and 'vetting' companies to provide service if the contract with Altamont Ambulance ended. The committee is quite satisfied that Abbott will be able to provide the excellent service the citzens of Effingham County deserve."

There were questions raised of Koester after the meeting by another area ambulance service as to whether they will be allowed to offer coverage in the county. Koester said state law allows citizens to take advantage of the medical coverage they desire and believes that extends to ambulance service, but also noted that state law authorizes a county board to enter into a private contract with a company to exclusively provide ambulance service within a county, due to financial considerations. He said there is a significant expense to providing ambulance service, and that there have been problems in other counties where three or four services were allowed to operate.

County Board Vice-Chairman Dave Campbell said an agreement between the County and Abbott could be finalized "within a week."