OH: Putnam County discusses medical transportation needs

As the need persists for medical transportation for Putnam County residents unable to transport themselves, Putnam County officials met Thursday to discuss how to ensure these people have access to the medical treatments they need.

Brian Hilvers, the Putnam County Office of Public Safety director, met with county commissioners about the office’s ambulette service, which provides transportation for county residents to and from medical appointments. These services only cover medically necessary transportation, which means transportation for work or other reasons would not be included.

One of the main issues with attracting and retaining staff, Hilvers said, is that the part-time position only pays $13 per hour. To that end, Hilvers and the commissioners agreed to raise that rate up to $15 per hour in hopes of attracting up to three additional drivers.

“Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are our busiest (days) because of dialysis,” he said.

As the population continues to age and the need for such transportation increases, other agencies are also looking for ways to ensure that residents in need get to their medical appointments.

“The ( Putnam County) Council on Aging is trying to develop a transportation system for the county,” commissioner Brad Brubaker said,.

Commissioner John Schlumbohm added, “It would be through the four-county (Hancock Hardin Wyandot Putnam) Community Action Commission,” .

Currently, of those four counties, Putnam County is the only one that does not have a public transit system in place, as the Kenton Area Transportation Service began serving Hardin County residents in 2024.

“Hancock’s had one quite a while,” Schlumbohm said. “Wyandot has a small one, and that’s really all we would start out with, probably just a couple of units, and we would be working with (the Ohio Department of Transportation) and some other agencies to do that.”

A study into such a system is currently underway by ODOT but is still in its early stages, commissioners said, adding they do not expect any such transportation system to become established for as long as two years.

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