Boundary Volunteer Ambulance Under Contract with Boundary County

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Boundary Volunteer Ambulance Chief Elated

Boundary County Commissioners – Not So Much

Boundary County has Boundary Volunteer Ambulance

Boundary County has Boundary Volunteer Ambulance

Boundary Volunteer Ambulance Chief says Service Will Improve as Paid Staff Brought On

Boundary Volunteer Ambulance Memorandum of Understanding

BVA Contract Expires

Unhappy Commissioners Approve BVA Contract

Boundary County Commissioners Dan Dinning, Walt Kirby, and Lee Pinkerton today approved a contract for ambulance services with Boundary Volunteer Ambulance.

To a man the Commissioners agreed emphatically that County residents would see little or no improvement in ambulance services provided by Boundary Volunteer Ambulance, in spite of the more than 6 fold increase in County funding.

Boundary Volunteer Ambulance Chief Ken Baker, disagrees, stating that now that funding has been secured ‘we can go to work improving the services we provide to the people of Boundary County’.

When pressed, the Commissioners explained that the reason they entered into the agreement, in spite of being so dissatisfied is that they were out of options.

Other options, such as responses to an RFP or hiring a qualified staff member to head an internally operated ambulance service were impractical either due to lack of response or inadequate time to implement.

So displeased with the situation were the Commissioners that two of them, Walt Kirby and Lee Pinkerton even requested to go on record expressing their sentiments.

When asked why he looked so unhappy, Pinkerton was quite willing to explain.  ‘I am unhappy, very unhappy..You learn a lot about certain persons’ ethics and morality when you go through this sort of a process,’ says Pinkerton.  Time did not allow for a more detailed discussion, but the Commissioners have agreed to meet again in the future for a more in-depth discussion.

In the meanwhile, congratulations are in order for Chief Ken Baker, and Boundary Volunteer Ambulance at the successful passage and funding of the Ambulance District in Boundary County and their position as beneficiaries of that levy.

You can view the Agreement in its entirety here