Ambulance board discusses vaccine mandates

The Nodaway County Ambulance District board of directors reviewed the COVID-19 vaccination mandates from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration during its regular meeting November 10.

Director of Operations Bill Florea discussed the several provisions in both mandates and their impacts.

Florea said at this time there is no policy in place, but if the mandate is enforced, the district will have to comply. He said this may affect some volunteers and current staff members. If needed, a special meeting will be called to address the situation and board members will draft a policy at that time.

In other business, the board approved an agreement with the City of Maryville for dispatching for 2022, 2023 and 2024. The contract is for $75,000 with a three percent yearly increase.

The board also approved the following: minutes as presented; bills to be paid; Medicaid/Medicare adjustments in the amount of $7,324.42; invoices to be sent to collections for $15,698.39; to pay the first $2,000 of any workers compensation claim, an increase of $1,000 due to savings from the experience modifier number.

Reports

Tri-C Rescue Squad: four search lights have been purchased and two light stands have been ordered.

Treasurer: funds have been placed into a 12-month CD and a 24-month CD with Farmers State Bank. Two more CDs will be coming due soon.

Revenue and Expenses: the accounts currently over budget were highlighted and the budget will need to be adjusted in December.

Director of Operations: the sales tax payment for the month was $94,629.59 which is an increase of 6.9 percent from the same time last year; the call volume is staying steady at 6.34 calls per day, which is above last year’s; filing for the two sub-district positions up for election in 2022 will be from December 7 to 28; Medicare has approved a 5.1 percent increase for inflation factor on charges but may reinstate the 2 percent sequestered money that was halted during the pandemic; the insurance payout for those employees not taking the insurance needs to be set at 70 percent of the average cost due to the extra expenses added to those wages.

Business Manager: the accounts receivable report has been corrected by ESO and the balance is now $124.03; the auditor will be at the next meeting with the completed audit and will provide a draft copy for board members to review beforehand.

Training Manager: six people were at the EMT/EMR class on October 6; quarterly CPR is December 9; Maryville Fire has seven interested in EMR classes in the new year, with two from the Tri-C area and possibility of two from the Burlington Jct. area.

The board approved to enter closed session for the purpose of personnel and approved to re-enter open session to grant Jeff Hall a performance incentive of $662.50 and merit raise of 18¢ per hour and Morgan Wheeler a performance incentive of $850 and merit raise of 19¢ per hour.

The next regular meeting will be held Wednesday, December 8.