Superior City Council drops idea of running ambulances

A proposal for a city-run ambulance service in Superior is dead.

The Superior City Council on Tuesday received and filed a 126-page report from the Ambulance Task Force, ending debate and discussion of providing emergency medical transport through the Superior Fire Department.

Created in December, the seven-member panel was appointed to determine if an ambulance service run by the Superior Fire Department was a viable option for the city. The majority of members concluded the service was not viable because of the potential cost for taxpayers.

Councilor Warren Bender, chairman of the task force, said while he determined the proposal for a city-run service was “feasible,” as chairman of the committee he would support the findings of the majority of the panel members.

“The financial times are not such that we could do anything like this,” he said. Bender said he didn’t believe anyone would be willing to pay for a new service if it proved less than profitable, a possibility he acknowledged Monday after further consultation with the Wisconsin Office of Emergency Medical Services.

Currently, taxpayers don’t have any liability for the service provided by Gold Cross Ambulance, which took over the service when Douglas County eliminated its ambulance service in 1996 because the government-run service was a burden on taxpayers. During the last five years of operation, the Douglas County Ambulance Service cost taxpayers almost $2.8 million.

City finance director Jean Vito projected similar deficits if the Superior Fire Department took over the service.

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