A new county-operated ambulance service is being established by the Washington County Board of Supervisors and the hiring of a director is underway. At their recent meeting, the Supervisors approved offering the position to four people. The ranking of the candidates from first to fourth was approved, but due to the nature of the situation the names of candidates were not announced.

The candidates were vetted first by an appointed committee that included representatives from the board of supervisors, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the Washington Police Department, Washington County Emergency Management, and the county’s human resources department. A second round of interviews took place by phone with two other supervisors and a representative from the human resources department. The goal is to have a county ambulance department in place to take over at 12:01 a.m. July 1st, as the current contract with Washington County Ambulance Inc. expires at midnight June 30th. The quick timeline to get everything in place has frequently been discussed.