Cumberland County Commissioners do not like the Crossville decision to pursue an ambulance service, passing a unanimous resolution against the idea.
Commissioner Tom Isham said he believes the county already has one of the best ambulance services in the state.
“Why do you want to fix something that is not broken?” Isham said. “So I don’t support it at all. At all. And I think the people I have talked to in my district in the city of Crossville, they don’t support it. Once they understand that their taxes could possibly double, then they all don’t support it. They say, ‘What’s wrong with our ambulance service?’ Well, there’s nothing wrong with it.”
Commissioner Wiley Potter said he also does not see a need for another ambulance service. Potter said he believes Director Chris Miller has done a fantastic job.
“Being a city resident and a retired police officer, I worry about my taxes in the city,” Potter said. “I’m on a fixed income, so that’s another thing.”
Isham said the county’s ambulance service had a $1.8 million deficit last year. Isham said losing the Crossville call volume would make the deficit even larger.
“40-50 percent of our calls are in the city,” Isham said. “So if we lose that call volume, that 40-50 percent, that means our revenue is gonna go down. And you know, we keep four ambulances in the city. We keep three Class A ambulances and one Class B in the city, so we can’t keep those four ambulances cause the city has their own ambulance service, so we would have to possibly lay off some personnel and sell some equipment.”
Potter said the county has not discussed whether it would reduce its ambulance service as a lateral move.
“Hopefully, you know, that wouldn’t happen,” Potter said. “But you know, we have to stay within a budget, of course, and do what’s best for the citizens of Cumberland County.”
Potter said another one of his concerns with is that the city’s ambulance would not provide the same services that the county’s ambulance service provides.
“Our ambulance service does this extra transporting to other hospitals,” Potter said. “You know, Cookeville, Nashville, Knoxville, and my understanding is that the city is not gonna be doing that.”
Isham said it was very disappointing that the city never reached out to the county during the process.
“They haven’t touched base with the mayor or the ambulance service director,” Isham said. “So yeah, that’s a problem. You know, all we know about it is what we read in the paper.”
One of the funding mechanisms the city has mentioned to help fund the ambulance service was grant funding. Isham said he doesn’t believe the city will be able to obtain grants.
“I just don’t see how they are gonna get a grant when the county commission is against it, the county mayor and the city mayor is against it,” Isham said. “I don’t see how they are gonna receive a grant to help on this. That’s just my personal opinion.”
Both commissioners said the resolution opposing Crossville’s ambulance service will likely not change anything. Both commissioners said things will have to continue to play out, and that they both hope the best outcome comes from the situation.
Potter said even though he opposes Crossville’s ambulance service, he does respect the council’s decision.