Chairperson Stutsman called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 1:37 p.m. Members present were: Charles Duffy, Jonathan Jordahl, Mike Lehman, Sally Stutsman, and Carol Thompson.

Jordahl asked Sullivan if he wanted to add a fifth ambulance that would be used at the Johnson County Ambulance Service, not with the joint project with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Sullivan agreed. Jordahl asked what role this would play in the fact that the Ambulance Service has access to an extra ambulance form the University. Ambulance Director Mike Sullivan said they have an agreement with the University that in event that all of the ambulances they have are on call, and if the University has something available they can use it. He said that is not factored into the purchase of a new ambulance for the Johnson County Ambulance Service.

Sullivan presented non-personal line items. He said medical equipment is the priority. Sullivan said the cost of providing uniforms is going to increase, and the employees have a replacement fund that is also factored into the budget. He said the replacement fund was designed to provide things that are not readily provided to the employee such as shoes that are damaged on the job, or a stethoscope.

Sullivan said there are new state requirements that require them to provide a significant amount of medical data on all of their trauma calls. He said the state has gone a step further and now they would like data on all transporting calls. He said the state did not have enough money provide for the necessary upgrades, but they have managed to take care of the upgrades through their current software provider. Sullivan said that this year they are also revising their protocol manual.

Sullivan said the bulk of expenses in capital expenditures are vehicle purchases. He said there has been a 20% increase in calls for the 1999 calendar year, which makes it very clear that they need a 5th ambulance. He said that within the next couple of years they will have to extend the 3rd ambulance to running 24 hours a day. Jordahl said they had talked about postponing the purchase of a 5th ambulance. Jordahl said that instead of a 4-year replacement cycle Sullivan went to a 5-year replacement cycle. Sullivan said that they had a 4-vehicle replacement cycle that gave them 5 years on replacement. He said that they are going to see a 10 to 15% increase on their mileage every 2 years. He said a 5-vehicle rotation will give them 8 years of life per ambulance. Sullivan explained that having a 5th ambulance will help them respond to the calls they need to and enable them to extend the life of the vehicles. Sullivan said this makes it possible to look at the replacement schedule long term. Lehman asked if one of those ambulances that are figured into the rotation, the one they are supposed to get from the University but have not yet received. Sullivan said no, and that ambulance is going to be purchased with money they already have. He said that the used vehicle would be used as a trade-in to purchase a new vehicle.

Sullivan said the Special Response Vehicle is something he would like to purchase in 2002, but doesn’t currently have a staffing package set up for this vehicle. He said that it is a 4-wheel drive vehicle that would be used for things like the athletic events at the University and it is a revenue-generating package because they use it for services that they charge for. He said that in the future they are going to be involved in more responses that are not going to require transport by ambulance, Medicare would not reimburse them. He said that if they have another means to respond to a call that can be decided at the point of dispatch then it makes sense not to use an ambulance. Sullivan said this is a consideration for the future. Sullivan said this would cost about half as much as an ambulance and it will possibly increase the lifespan of the ambulances. He said he would also like to continue to set aside money for the future ambulance satellite location. He said he is still working with Iowa City and Coralville and hasn’t received any indication from the Fire Administration or the City Administration that they want to change the arrangement by ending it, but they do want to discuss other options.

Sullivan said they are continuing to set aside money to make capital improvements at the Ambulance Service. He said one of the projects that he would like to do is the lighting system. He said he had a Mid-American Energy representative come in and do an energy audit of the building and received an estimated cost of 4,500 for insulating the building. Sullivan said another thing they would like to do is carpet the classroom, and is requesting $4,000 to finish that project. Sullivan said he would also like to put more storage in the classroom by next year because they are completely out of space. Thompson asked Sullivan which project he would postpone if he had to, and Sullivan replied the storage in the classroom. He said redoing the lighting for the building would be $2,700, which seems like a good deal.

Sullivan said that there are no new technology requests. He said the 2 things they have are the $1,125 request for on-going software maintenance and then $625 for on-going maintenance for the Infotronics time system that they have.

Adjourned at 2:20 p.m.

Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor

By Martin Jones, Recording Secretary