Franklin County OKs 30% hike for taxis, wheelchair lifts and escorts for agency clients
Twenty-three taxi or transportation firms that provide rides, wheelchair lift services and escorts to clients of Franklin County agencies are getting a 30% increase under contract modifications totaling $24.3 million approved this week by the county commissioners.
Senior clients of the county Office on Aging are the largest user of the ride services, though other agencies like the Veterans Services Commission, Job and Family Services, Child Support Enforcement and the Justice Policy and Programs also rely on the providers to get their clients to medical appointments, grocery stores, community centers and other places.
Depending on the vendor, the county will pay a range from $3.30 to $6.83 per mile for regular ride services and $6.23 to $8.45 per mile for lift ride services.
For clients who require escorts, the county will pay vendors from $35.10 to up to $46.19 per hour under the contract modifications, which run until Jan. 14, 2024.
Megan Perry-Balonier, county purchasing director, said the 30% contract increase was necessary because the five-year contract predates the pandemic, costs have risen substantially since then, and an increase in rates was needed to keep the 23 transportation providers.
"We’ve lost 10 providers during the course of this contract due to increased fuel costs and difficulty finding quality labor," Perry-Balonier said in an emailed response relayed through commissioners' spokesman Tyler Lowry. "An increase in allowable rates was necessary in order to keep the remaining vendors."
Escorts are generally provided for clients with physical or mental impairments who do not have a support system and do things like help clients in and out of vehicles, carry packages, direct them to proper offices inside buildings and make sure the clients get home safely.
The county used to have individual transportation service contracts with companies but combined them under one contract in 2018. None of the transportation providers who bid is large enough to provide all the services needed by the county, Perry-Balonier said, and the multiple vendors gives the agencies options to choose the vendor that best fits their needs to serve clients based on availability, geographical area, response time, and cost.
"We’d like to have even more companies bid on these services — several of these are already operating at capacity," Perry-Balonier. "We’ve worked with the vendors to identify a rate increase that will allow them to continue to provide this vital service for the county and its residents."
Eleven nonprofits get grant funds to meet various needs
In other business Tuesday, the commissioners awarded $3.55 million in community partnership capital grants to several local nonprofit groups selected from some 120 applications for funding in the "Tier 2," or $100,000 to $500,000 range. Other allocations have been made previously in other tier funding levels.
The latest allocations, which are being paid for from federal American Rescue Plan funds, are:
∙ $250,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus to replace furniture in the elementary learning centers, music and art rooms and cafeteria at its South Side Club due to wear and tear.
$152,500 to Communities in Schools of Ohio to purchase a 15-passenger van to transport students and resources, to buy five sets of washer/dryers because some students are unable or unwilling to go to school because they don't have clean clothes or uniforms to wear, and to purchase furniture for and renovate space the nonprofit is leasing in a building in downtown Columbus that the United Way of Central Ohio has partnered with Nationwide on a long-term lease.
$150,000 to Columbus Early Learning Centers "to invest in their growth" and for security enhancements at three child care facilities in central city Columbus.
∙500,000 to the Elevate Northland Center toward the renovation and buildout of the center, which proponents say "will be an economic and cultural driver" and a hub for community programs and services in the Northland area.
$215,412 to Huckleberry House, which serves at-risk and homeless youth, to purchase two free-standing, secure workplace units from Columbus-based Ootbox to situate the on the green at Kenmore that could house up to five workspaces for independent program staff work, private client meetings and small group counseling sessions in order to provide relief to space constraints at their facility.
$500,000 to CompDrug, a drug addiction and mental health treatment facility, to complete the renovation of its property in the Milo-Grogan neighborhood to move its admissions and intensive outpatient program to that space, and to expand its outpatient treatment admissions and intensive outpatient programs and add a new partial hospitalization program.
$400,000 to the St. Vincent Family Center, which provides youth behavioral services, to complete critical renovations to space occupied by its Children’s Residential Treatment Program. The current, antiquated facilities "limit our ability to deliver quality, equitable treatment to our most vulnerable clients – children ages 5-12 living on-site" in that program.
$347,000 to Impact Community Action for its kitchen and garden capital project that will create a space for workforce development participants to learn how to grow and prepare healthy foods and to provide incubator space for graduates of its Side Hustle small business development program.
$280,223 to Lower Lights Christian Health Center for renovation of patient treatment areas at its main health center location at 1160 W. Broad St., including replacing flooring, lighting and countertops, and repairing and repainting walls and installing chair rails. Patient beds, including several bariatric beds, will be replaced in 11 of the 16 treatment rooms. Counseling offices for behavioral health, substance use disorder treatment and nutrition will get lighting and furniture replaced and be repainted.
$256,000 to Kingdom Image Arts for relocating its community programming from the 4200 block of Westerville Road to a 7,881-square-foot building at 2501 Mock Road in Columbus that has a large auditorium with full-size stage, a dining and multipurpose room with a full commercial kitchen, three classrooms, three offices and storage. The nonprofit's mission is to "empower all generations through inspirational arts, performances, education, and influential programming, seeking to contributing to personal wellness, economic impact, and social change."
$500,000 to St. Mary School in German Village toward the cost of adding a dining hall, new kitchen, 10,000 square foot of additional learning space, updating the existing learning spaces and developing a program for health and continuing education services for the community. The school is housing a Nationwide Children's Hospital health center on its campus, which it says is a first in the country, and is creating space for the Dominican Sisters of Peace to conduct adult learning on its campus.
In other action, the commissioners awarded United Healthcare Services Inc. a $10.8-million contract to provide medical plan administration services for the county Cooperative Health Improvement Program for the next three years. The contract will also provide multiple on-site nurses, disease management, musculoskeletal support programs and access to IUI/IVF, surrogacy, adoption, and other services.
United Healthcare was chosen over several other bidders for numerous reasons, a county human resources official told the commissioners in a prior briefing, including its provider network and pricing, operations, member services, account management, the ability to staff and integrate county health engagement people. satisfacatory performance demonstrations of its website and app, and a willingness to collaborate with other county vendors.
The commissioners also:
Approved a $300,000 grant agreement with Central Ohio Workers Center, which helps low-wage and immigrant workers. The county has the option to extend the agreement for four additional one-year periods.
Gave their required formal approval to the Hospital Commission of Franklin County's agreement to issue $65 million in bonds on behalf of Ohio Living, a Westerville-based nonprofit that has built a variety of senior living communities across Ohio. The commission issues tax-exempt and general obligation bonds for health care facilities construction. The commissioners must approve the issues for tax purposes, but the bonds are not backed by the county and there is no financial obligation to county taxpayers.
jwilhelm@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Franklin County OKs 30% raise for rides, escorts for county agencies
