CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — By the end of next week, a contract between the Charlotte Fire Department and Medic, the county’s ambulance service, will expire.
The fire department says the current arrangement, set to expire on Jan. 9, has exhausted its resources, and officials want a new deal. They say the city’s rapid growth has stretched them far too thin.
Under the current deal, which was signed back in 2017, Medic has the ability to dispatch fire crews to low-priority calls or have them respond to a call and provide care until a Medic ambulance can arrive. Fire officials say their crews are responding to an unsustainable amount of calls, and the reimbursement Medic pays to CFD for covering them doesn’t meet the department’s expenses.
It’s a problem Huntersville’s fire chief raised at a recent town board meeting.
“We’re gonna go, whether contract or no contract, we’re gonna go, if they dispatch us we’re going, but we need to change the contract to make the service better,” said Chief Jim Dotoli.
In a statement to Queen City News, Medic said they are currently working on a six-month temporary extension with Charlotte Fire, what is called a memorandum of understanding. Before any changes are made to the long-term agreement, Medic said they need to study any possible impacts to their standard of care.
Medic’s executive director, John Peterson, addressed the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners in early December.
“Medic has been doing our due diligence during that time frame, we have had numerous internal meetings as well as numerous meetings with our agency board of commissioners, we have met with the county manager and her team as well.”
A medic spokesperson added, “We have every confidence that we will be able to come to an agreement as soon as possible without any service interruptions for our community, which is our shared priority.”
