Pickle (David Prokulevich) acts more of a consultant. He reviews ambulance runs, oversees the budget and works with me and the Commission on how to best oversee the ambulance. We have not had an official in-house director since AJ Gengler left at the end of 2021”
Commission Assistant Marty Skroch
By Carleen Wild
Moody County Enterprise
The future of ambulance services in Moody County remains in question as local Commissioners struggle to find staff with the right qualifications and enough staff in general for the roles needed.
Moody County Ambulance calls for three full-time staff — typically that would include someone in the Ambulance Director role. The person that previously held that position, David Prokulevich, moved to Tennessee last summer but had been helping the county remotely until his replacement was found.
“We have been running with two full-time staff since July of 2023, with little luck finding a replacement,” said Commission Assistant Marty Skroch.
“Pickle (David Prokulevich) acts more of a consultant. He reviews ambulance runs, oversees the budget and works with me and the Commission on how to best oversee the ambulance. We have not had an official in-house director since AJ Gengler left at the end of 2021.”
That absent team member has caused concern for many in the community, specifically in regard to response times should they ever have an emergency, and especially in some of the more remote areas of the county.
To attract the best possible candidate, the Commission decided in February to end Prokulevich’s position and combine what had been his salary with the previous wage offered to a Director.
County officials hope the opportunity to earn $60,514.33 brings someone in quickly with experience, and encourages them to stay.
Ambulance staffing shortages are nothing new, nor are they unique to Moody County. There is a critical shortage of emergency medicine and paramedic personnel nationwide, especially in rural America. Higher salaries tend to be one of the primary reasons paramedics say they leave more rural areas for urban settings.
But as counties like Moody continue to struggle with limited resources and the recovery of expenses for ambulance services, Commissioners continue to consider every option before them. Annually, as budget talks resurface, that ranges from keeping it and absorbing the expense as a service county residents desire and have come to expect, to outsourcing it to a third party, or simply getting rid of it altogether.
The deliberations underscore the need for a sustainable solution to ensure timely and reliable emergency medical care for the county. The new pay scale, according to Skroch, has generated some interest.
The last overall ambulance hire, Skroch said, was a part-time EMT, Robin Rohrer on February 6th of this year.
