County expects lawsuit from ambulance service

Med-Stat EMS, one of two private ambulance services applying to operate in the county, has been officially prohibited from having a base of operations here in 2007 because the company failed to meet the deadline for filing an application under new regulations established by the Warren County Commission.

Med-Stat, based in Manchester and owned and operated by Kevin Fowler, missed the Jan. 10 deadline after having been notified this would result in the company?s being denied approval to operate an office and station an ambulance in Warren County. The company did not submit an application until 19 days after the deadline.

County Executive John Pelham says he contacted Fowler about the late application and was informed Fowler had been advised by his attorneys to submit an application to make it clear he had formally advised the county his company wanted to operate here.

Shortly thereafter Fowler, who reportedly has a suit pending in Cannon County, also filed a suit against Warren County.

?Kevin has made it clear he feels these fees and regulations are unfair,? Pelham said. ?We haven?t seen the paperwork on his suit yet, so we don?t know what it?s about, but we feel it?s probably an effort to challenge the new regulations.?

The regulations require a non-refundable yearly $500 application fee, and, if the company is approved after inspection, a $4,500 yearly permit fee.

County officials wanted to make it clear that Med-Stat can?t be denied the right to operate in the county from its base in Manchester. The company has the right to come across county lines to make ambulance runs as long as it meets state regulations. The new regulations only prohibit the company from having a base of operations here.

Pelham says he feels the regulations aren?t restrictive, particularly since they are based on what the county ambulance service operates under, and the second private ambulance company, Pro-Med Transportation, out of Knoxville, had no problem with them. Pro-Med met the deadline, adhered to the new regulations, paid the fees, and was inspected and approved to operate a private ambulance station here for 2007.

According to Pelham, the regulations were established to allow the county to inspect private companies to make sure they were up to county standards. And even though the county can?t legally prohibit companies like Med-Stat from crossing county lines and making runs here, they can make regulations oh how the companies conduct business here, as set out by legislation enacted by the State of Tennessee, which states, in part:

?WHEREAS, under the provisions of Tennessee Code Annotated 7-61-103, in order to protect the public health and welfare, any county or city may adopt and enforce reasonable regulations to control the provisions of private or non-profit ambulance service as that term is defined in Tennessee Code Annotated 7-61-101.?

Pelham said the fees were discussed extensively, and were established to help finance the expenses incurred by the inspection and permitting services, along with processing the paperwork needed to maintain the system.

?This was not done to make money for the county or discourage private ambulance services,? Pelham said. ?It takes a lot of time and labor to inspect these companies and handle the paperwork. The fees simply keep that cost from falling on taxpayers.?

The minutes of the Safety Committee meeting stated Med-Stat?s application was rejected due to late filing. It was noted that Met-Stat could file an application, but it would not be acted upon until December, 2007, the next deadline for applications, which must be renewed yearly under the new regulations.

Even though the application fee was denoted non-refundable, Safety Committee members voted unanimously to return the $500 application fee to Med-Stat.