Greene County Ambulance staff will see better working conditions and higher wages as recommended by Iowa EMS Consultants. Staffing the ambulance service has been enough of a challenge that it was sometimes unable to handle outbound transfers from Greene County Medical Center, straining the working relationship with the hospital.
Ambulance director Michelle Madsen, supervisors Pete Bardole and John Muir, and auditor Billie Hoskins had met with
Ambulance director Michellle Madsen said several employees have left the service to work in neighboring counties where they can make as must as $20,000 a year more.
The entry level wage for an EMT is now approximately $41,000. The exact increase has not been determined, but the wage will be more than $50,000. Iowa EMS suggested the wage after surveying surrounding counties. It will be effective Nov. 1.
Madsen said she has already talked with two people who left Greene County Ambulance who said they would return if the wage were increased.
Also, scheduling will be changed so the work week starts and ends on Wednesday rather than a weekend. Hoskins anticipates that will reduce overtime enough to make up the difference in the higher pay.
Supervisor Dawn Rudolph called the wage increase “a nice bump to get us started,” and continued, “We can keep adjusting from there. We’ve got to have a starting point.”
The ambulance service has been hampered by not having a place for staff to sleep while not in service. The medical center has agreed to make space available for that purpose.
The biggest goal is to be able to handle all medical transfers from the medical center.
The board approved a construction administrative services agreement with BBS Architects and Engineers for the courthouse HVAC project. The amount the contract is not to exceed $150,000. Supervisor Dawn Rudolph said the dollar amount is more than initially planned because BBS plans to have someone on site more than planned.
The supervisors also approved the construction agreement between the county and Graphite Construction Group for the project.
The board passed a resolution approving a settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed by Hardin County against the Central Iowa Juvenile Detention Center. Hardin County claimed in the suit that the 28E agreements agreed to by counties who joined after 2012 were improper. (Greene County joined prior to 2012.) Details of the settlement were not provided. The supervisors finalized but did not approve changes to the county employee handbook. The purpose of some of the changes is to assure that policies are the same for all employees – secondary roads, sheriff’s office, and courthouse. An example is the accrual and carryover of unused leave time.
