SOUTH WHITLEY – South Whitley Town Councilman Randy Cokl on Tuesday announced Lutheran Hospital’s Emergency Medical Service will provide ambulance service in South Whitley starting in April.
Cokl, who worked for the EMS dispatch center for 37 years and now works at the Whitley County dispatch center, said he’s met with Lutheran officials since last spring.
“Lutheran EMS will provide 24-hour ambulance service here,” he said, adding “available with a simple 911 call.”
The council signed a 10-year contract, with a few changes indicated by town attorney Greg Hockemeyer. No tax dollars will be used for ambulance support. Citizens will be responsible for ambulance fees. People can indicate which hospital they prefer, according to the Times-Union.
He explained that Parkview’s South Whitley-based ambulance is directed to drive halfway to Columbia City when the Columbia City-based ambulances are transferring people out of the county. The Churubusco-based ambulance is directed to leave that town in the same circumstance.
Parkview has established a regional dispatch center for ambulance service which covers LaGrange, Whitley, Noble, Huntington and Wabash counties. When a Whitley County resident calls for an ambulance, the dispatchers have to call a center in either Huntington or Allen county and repeat information to the regional dispatcher.
“That’s not in the best interest of South Whitley,” Cokl said. “There can be a five to seven minute lapse of time.
“Dispatchers in the other counties don’t know local landmarks like Whitley County dispatchers and EMS personnel do. If a caller says an accident is one mile west of Shontz Pond and can’t think of the exact address in their distress, the ambulance crew and first responders still know where to go.”
A South Whitley-based ambulance could be dispatched to Wabash or Huntington counties, as far as North Manchester and Huntington, Cokl said.
Lutheran’s ambulance will be stationed in the old EMS building on Front Street 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A paramedic and advanced emergency medical technician will be on hand all the time.
Lutheran Hospital representative Krista Quinones said the group looks forward to coming to South Whitley.
A resident asked whether or not Lutheran would provide a community doctor, too, andQuinones said they have been talking to Dr. James Hanus about his building at State and Columbia streets. A nurse practitioner could start seeing people soon, Quinones said, and a physician is being sought. She said 3,000 of Hanus’ patients are still without a physician.
In his report, town marshal Mike VanDevender said officer Blake Beerman is halfway through the police academy; Chuck Lewellen returned to full-time employment Thursday and AJ Westerman’s last day was Nov. 25.
Utilities superintendent Kent Slater said the State Street Christmas wreaths have been hung on light poles; the town park gazebo is being decorated and leaf pick up is ongoing.
DLZ engineers said two ditches have to be installed prior to the ADA sidewalk project, he said, and intersections at Mulberry and Main streets and Columbia and Main streets and along West Broad Street have to be repaved to get water to run away from the sidewalks.
Slater said he found paperwork showing the town applied for a sidewalk project from the bridge to the Whispering Hills in 2013, and the application is still current. He said he will follow up on the project.
Clerk treasurer Janet Howard presented an amendment to the salary ordinance approving Lewellen’s 10-cent per hour raise to $20 per hour as a police sergeant.
She said Dustin Jackson’s utility charges have been adjusted from a water heater leak he had a few months ago. He has agreed to pay $180 for two months to catch up on the bill.
The town lineman requested the town pay for a cell phone and that utility department phone calls will be forwarded to that dedicated phone, which was approved. Most emergency calls are for the electric department and he would like to respond quickly.
Slater said he found paperwork showing the town applied for a sidewalk project from the bridge to the Whispering Hills in 2013, and the application is still current. He said he will follow up on the project.
Clerk treasurer Janet Howard presented an amendment to the salary ordinance approving Lewellen’s 10-cent per hour raise to $20-per-hour as a police sergeant.
She said Dustin Jackson’s utility charges have been adjusted from a water heater leak he had a few months ago. He has agreed to pay $180 for two months to catch up on the bill.
The town lineman requested the town pay for a cell phone and that utility department phone calls will be forwarded to that dedicated phone. The request was approved. Most emergency calls are for the electric department and he said he would like to respond quickly.
The next town council meeting starts with a work session at 5:30 p.m. followed by the regular meeting Tuesday, December 13.
Council members are Bill Boggs, Cokl and Les Hoffman.
