GRAFTON – Federal changes to healthcare funding may cause Jersey County residents to lose their ambulance service unless county and hospital officials find another way to keep the service funded.
Jersey County Board Chairman Mark Wagner addressed members of the Grafton City Council at their Sept. 15, 2026 meeting. Wagner said he had recently learned of financial issues threatening the ambulance service offered by Jersey Community Hospital, which serves residents across Jersey County.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
“I was contacted by Jersey Community Hospital that our ambulance service is in financial trouble,” Wagner said. “[We’re] trying to think about what we can to do help save our ambulance service, because it’s in jeopardy of going bankrupt, cutting services or doing away with it altogether unless we can somehow help support our ambulance service.”
After discussing possible options with the Jersey County Clerk, Wagner said the County Board could vote to raise the levy on property taxes, an option Wagner said he’s “totally opposed to.” Another option would be to place a county-wide Public Safety Sales Tax of 0.5% on the ballot for elections next spring in April 2027.
Kevin Zachary, CEO of Jersey Community Hospital, said federal funding changes made under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are driving the funding issues now threatening to end the county’s ambulance service.
Zachary explained JCH consists of three entities, including the hospital itself, the clinic and the ambulance service. To cover ambulance costs that exceeded the service’s available funding, Zachary said the hospital would previously “rob Peter to pay Paul” by pulling from the hospital or clinic funds. But as the hospital itself faces federal funding hits, officials are now looking elsewhere to cover the ambulance costs.
“With the Big Beautiful Bill, there was a lot of change to healthcare financing and more to come. We’ve been very hit with that; JCH is primarily funded by Medicare,” Zachary said. “We’re able to collect about $500 per [ambulance] run – that nowhere near covers our cost.”
For Fiscal Year 2026 alone, Zachary estimated the ambulance service operated at a loss of about $650,000. While operating at a loss is not a new phenomenon for the ambulance service, he said the hospital no longer has the ability to offset the costs with other funding sources.
Zachary said the hospital currently operates two ambulances, including one which stays within the county and a second for out-of-county transportation needs. He emphasized both ambulances are needed to serve the entire county 24 hours per day.
Mayor Mike Morrow asked Wagner to keep him informed as discussions continue on possibly putting the Public Safety Sales Tax on the ballot for next spring.
