EMS Co-op Helps Rural Providers

When the Balanced Budget Act passed in 1997, Gary Wingrove, an emergency medical services provider in Minnesota, worried that the new Medicare payment system it established would put small emergency providers out of business in his state and elsewhere.

“We were surrounded by rural, volunteer EMT services in Minnesota, and if they went out of business, their communities would be asking us (Mayo) for services,” said Wingrove, a 25-year EMS provider with Mayo Clinic Medical Transport in St. Cloud, Minn.

So, in December 1997, Wingrove and three other Minnesota providers gathered around his kitchen table to hammer out plans for an EMS cooperative to serve Minnesota and surrounding states. The result was the North Central EMS Cooperative (NCEMSC), which got off the ground with the help of a two-year Kellogg Grant. Through the grant, the group was given the help of co-op development specialists from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls for three years to lead the group through strategic planning.

The co-op also researches products and prepares bids for members, provides services such as information on governmental and regulatory practices, certifications and safety standards, and keeps members updated on legislation that may affect the industry.