By Travis Gettys
Enquirer contributor

COVINGTON - City officials Tuesday approved the hiring of 16 paramedics to provide advanced life support.

Commissioners voted in February to opt out of a countywide agreement with TransCare, a nonprofit group owned by a partnership of St. Elizabeth and St. Luke hospitals, which had provided the service at no fee to the city.

TransCare informed officials that it has been losing money for years and could no longer subsidize the service with yearly subscription drives and insurance payments, and asked municipal governments to pick up the tab.

For Covington, that amounted to $76,000 per year, said Fire Chief Joe Heringhaus.

"In the long run, (hiring paramedics is) going to be cheaper," Heringhaus said.

The city anticipates that it will bring in $497,855 in insurance payments for paramedic service, based on an estimated 5,400 ambulance runs per year. The formula takes into account various insurance plans and collection rates.

After paying salaries and other expenses, the city expects to turn a $54,984 profit, Heringhaus said.

The city now brings in about $530,000 for basic life support, which does not dispatch paramedics - who can administer medication and use a manual defibrillator.

Covington should begin paramedic service by Sept. 1, Heringhaus said, after the new paramedics begin city firefighter training July 6.

"We want to make sure they do things Covington's way," he said.

Meanwhile, cities left behind when Kenton County's largest city pulled out of TransCare will meet Thursday to discuss how they can provide service to the most serious calls.

The Kenton County Mayors Group will consider three long-term options: a countywide property tax for permanent funding, a special district to provide paramedic service, or an interlocal agreement to provide independent service or contract with a third party.

The first two options would place a new tax before voters, likely in November, said Fort Mitchell City Administrator Larry Klein, who serves as chairman of the group's advanced life support committee.

Several Kenton County cities will contract with TransCare to provide paramedic services for one year, starting July 1, Klein said.

Included in that agreement are: Crestview Hills, Edgewood, Elsmere, Erlanger, Fort Mitchell, Fort Wright, Lakeside Park, Ludlow, Park Hills, Taylor Mill and Villa Hills. Crestview Hills is considering the plan, Klein said.

If voters reject a tax this fall, Klein said that could spell the end of countywide paramedic service.

"If citizens say they don't want to pay for it, we're not going to provide it," Klein said.