Ambulance surcharge criticized

Spokane’s policy of charging nonresidents an extra $100 for an ambulance ride is drawing fire from some high school sports officials.

Under a 1997 resolution passed by the Spokane City Council, nonresidents injured in the city and transported by ambulance are assessed a surcharge on top of fees charged by the ambulance provider.

The parents and staff of a Central Valley High School varsity football player were surprised to find that the fee also applies to high school athletes expected to participate in games across city lines.

The issue was brought to officials with the Greater Spokane League, after the CV player was injured in a game against Gonzaga Prep at the Spokane school this fall.

The quarterback had a possible concussion and required a trip to the hospital in an ambulance, said Grant “Butch” Walter, CV athletic director.

“His parents knew they would be responsible for paying the ambulance bill,” Walter said, but the parents were alarmed when they also received a bill from the Spokane Fire Department for a “nonresident basic life support fee.”

The city’s fee helps in part to mitigate the costs of services provided to noncity residents, which total about 15 percent of the 19,000 EMS calls per year, said Rich Kness, EMS division chief for Spokane Fire.

Walter and high school athletic directors with the GSL, which includes 14 schools in Spokane, Mead, Spokane Valley, Cheney and Clarkston, agreed that this is the first time parents have come forward with this issue. The league is considering reimbursing the family of the CV student for the charge.

“It surprised us. We’ve never heard of it,” said Randy Ryan, GSL secretary. “We felt this is an unjust fee.”

High school athletes are expected to play hundreds of games in Spokane every year, Ryan said. Most football games between GSL schools are played at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane.

On Friday, thousands of Spokane Valley students and parents are expected to pack into the Spokane Arena for the Stinky Sneaky basketball games and spirit competition between University and Central Valley high schools.

“I would say more than half of the (sporting) events are in the city,” Ryan said.

Because Spokane’s emergency services are paid for through a special EMS levy, citizens are paying for people who don’t live in the city to receive those services, Kness said.

The city also contracts with American Medical Response for ambulance services; included in that contract is a fee regulation that allows a cheaper rate for Spokane residents.

“An ambulance ride in the county is going to be about $100 more than it is in the city,” Kness said, so residents of Spokane Valley or the county would be paying that $100 anyway.

Spokane Valley Fire does not charge nonresidents additional fees for services, said Dave Lobdell, an assistant fire chief.

“We do not charge anybody for any of our services,” Lobdell said. “Whether the funding mechanism is through an EMS levy or something else, we still pay for the services that city residents use when they travel into the Valley. Our theory is that it all washes out in the end.”

Oftentimes with sporting events, the calls for paramedics are for injury assessment only, and the patient travels to the hospital with a family member of friend, he said.

The GSL also employs off-duty EMS personnel at each game, and teams usually have their own doctors on hand.

But high school officials said the possibility for greater injury requiring the services of the Fire Department and an ambulance is always there.

“It’s important that the parents be aware that this is happening,” CV’s Walter said. “Maybe it’s been common practice, but nobody has brought it forward before now.”