Carthage, IL – Delegates from different Hancock County emergency responders are getting closer to forming an umbrella organization.
Health and Miscellaneous Committee Chairman Ken Nudd says the group made a presentation to the county board meeting. The board endorsed a resolution of support.
He says the groups are working toward an umbrella organization that would do long-term planning and set policies.
Each ambulance service would be responsible for its own day-to-day operations.
The groups are still working on issues such as who would have voting delegates and whether those with their own tax levy would be able to vote on fiscal matters.
The county board approved hiring Professional Billing Services of Orion, IL, to do the billing and collections for the county's ambulance operations.
The one-year agreement includes a $500 set-up fee and a six percent charge on billings.
Nudd says the county has not had a billing service since about the end of June. One of the new firm's first tasks will be working to collect on the stack of unpaid bills for services that have been accumulating.
He says the ambulance delegates plan to have a working agreement by the December first beginning of the county's fiscal year.