The Citrus County Commission on Tuesday extended its contract with Nature Coast Emergency Medical Foundation, Inc. for Basic and Advanced Life Support – Ground Ambulance service in Citrus County.
The extension means that the company will continue to provide ambulance support and other services in the county until Sept. 30, 2022.
The commission’s decision to move ahead did not come without some debate as to the length of time NCEMS responds to requests for service and certain medical protocols. Of late, there have been sharp differences between Seven Rivers Hospital and Citrus Memorial hospitals and NCEMS when it comes to response times and transport issues.
Commissioner Jeff Kinard of Inverness, himself a chiropractor, said that the “dust up” between the hospitals and NCEMS was likely a “communication issue.”
One physician who spoke at the BOCC meeting, Dr. Michael Loguidice, CMH Medical Director of Emergency Medicine, told commissioners about his frustration with the ambulance service.
Editor’s Note: The date in the video below should be March 13, 2018, not March 13, 2013.