Washington County is officially looking for an ambulance services director. At their meeting Tuesday, the Washington County Board of Supervisors approved the creation of a County Ambulance Services Department and the director position. The ambulance advisory committee recommended a job description and a salary range starting at $75,000.

Supervisor Abe Miller said he’d like to see the range lowered to start at $65,000 because it is higher than other county officials. Supervisor Jack Seward said each job is different with different qualifications and experience, “That’s true, they are no less important. But I’ll point out also that if we offer that first salary down that low, I can pretty well guarantee you that there’s going to be people that look at that and say, ‘Oh, look at what I’ve got to do in the next six months to get this off the ground.’ And it’s going to reduce our pool, and we’ll be missing, we’re likely to be missing some very good, qualified applicants.”

Supervisor Richard Young, who is the current ambulance director, said it’s a demanding job with a lot to get set up before July 1st, “This position is not going to be this Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It’s 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So that’s a thing you have to consider when you’re looking at this position, and that’s just from experience.”

Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh said there is some urgency to get everything set up so that ambulance services continue locally on July 1, 2020. The current contract with a private entity ends at midnight June 30th.