After holding a recess session where members of the Decatur County and Seminole County board of commissioners met to discuss the possibility of approving one of three Emergency Medical Services proposals, Decatur County voted to postpone their decision to an undetermined date.
The Decatur County Board of Commissioners voted for the recess Tuesday at the County Commission meeting when Commissioner Butch Mosely made a motion for more time to evaluate the proposals with Seminole County.
“My suggestion would be for the county administrator of Seminole, our county administrator, and the two chairmen get together to discuss these proposals and come back with a recommendation for the commission to vote on,” Mosely said.
Loeffler, Decatur County Administrator Gary Breedlove, Decatur County Attorney Brown Moseley, Seminole County Manager Paula Granger and Seminole County Commissioner Bob Lane all entered the private meeting while the rest of the board and spectators waited.
Granger and Lane declined to comment after the recess.
“After meeting with the Seminole county people, some new developments have come up and we would like to table a decision until further negotiation can be conducted with the Seminole county people,” Loeffler said. “We’ll get back to them as quickly as we can.”
Of the three companies who have sent proposals to Decatur and Seminole counties — Mid Georgia, EMS Grady and Gold Star — Grady EMS is the only company that would use existing EMS trucks owned by Decatur County.
If chosen, Grady EMS’ proposal would cost $250,000 for Decatur County, to whom they would staff three EMS shifts, and $200,000 for Seminole County, who would be staffed 1.5 EMS shifts.
Grady EMS Vice President Bill Compton spoke to the Board of Commissioners to clear up any misunderstanding about his company’s proposal. Mosely asked Compton to assure Grady EMS, a company that covers the metro-Atlanta area, would provide the same class of treatment to Southwest Georgia as they do up north.
“In addition to the excellent care we provide for the entire city of Atlanta, my background is in public health and academia,” Compton said. “A significant portion of my senior management team has been transplanted from Florida and has an extensive background in not only urban medicine but rural medicine. We’ll take all of our knowledge and apply that to Southwest Georgia.”
Compton also assured the board almost 100 percent of patients would be taken to a local hospital as opposed to Atlanta hospitals.
The cost for Mid Georgia would be $369,642.86 for Decatur County and $205,000 for Seminole County. They would offer two trucks to Bainbridge, one truck in Donalsonville and a 12-hour service truck to the Lake Seminole area.
Gold Stars’ proposal saw a cost of $240,000 for Decatur County and $180,000 for Seminole County. Their offer included two trucks in Bainbridge, one in Donalsonville and a 24-hour truck for both.