Ambulance service leaves Cherokee County
Company losing money here
By Dwight Otwell Editor

Med Trans EMS, a private ambulance company, pulled up stakes Friday and left Cherokee County.

Co-owner and Vice President Darnita Collins said the company just wasn't making money here.

"We are not subsidized. We are fully self-supporting and 50 percent of our patients can't pay," she said. "It is no one's fault."

The company gets more self-pay and Medicaid patients than those with insurance.

"We can't support this any longer," Collins said. "We have been looking at this for approximately a year. There finally comes a point that if it bleeds that much, you have to do something about it."

Trans Med began operations in Cherokee County in 2004. The company did non-emergency runs and hospital transportation for Murphy Medical Center to larger cities. Occasionally, Med Trans did 911 backup when needed. The county EMS service takes care of most 911 calls.

Collins said that the county will be pushed for awhile to handle ambulance calls and the county EMS service will have to pick up more calls.

"It wasn't an easy decision," Collins said. "A lot of thought went into it. We had some very good employees. It is no fault of the citizens. It is just hard times. It has been a good three and a half years."

Collins said Med Trans has good, financial stability. The company will continue to operate in Polk and McMinn Counties, TN where the company gets county subsidies for their 911 contracts.

There were eight to nine full-time employees of Med Trans in Cherokee County and a number of part-time employees. The company had two ambulances, fully equipped with Advanced Life Support equipment. The company leased the building on Hwy. 64 near the Blairsville Highway from Murphy Medical Center. Some of the Med Trans employees will continue to work for the company in one of the Tennessee divisions.

"We had a very good working relationship with Murphy Medical Center," Collins said.