Residents that use Union County’s transportation service may have noticed a reduction in trip options.
County officials said UCATS (Union County Agency Transportation Service) is currently down 50% of its drivers, which has caused the agency to scale back some of its services.
At a recent meeting of county department heads, Human Services Director Sue Ware told the county commissioners that the department is prioritizing medical appointments and taking seniors to the grocery store. Other services may not be available.
She said the agency typically has eight drivers but currently only has four.
“You might hear some concerns with some trips we normally would take,” she said. “We’re just not able to because we don’t have the staff.”
UCHS Deputy Director Janell Alexander said UCATS transports county residents to various appointments, based on the contract with various community organizations. “For example, UCATS has a contract with Union County Department of Job and Family Services for client trips related to federal programs like Medicaid or the contract with Union County Senior Services that provides trips for activities of daily living (medical, shopping, legal, banking) for seniors over the age of 60 years,” she said. “UCATS is funded by a combination of federal grants and contracts with local organizations. Eligibility for transportation service is determined by a referring agency, with which UCATS has a contract or memorandum of understanding. Examples of referring agencies include Union County Department of Job and Family Services, Union County Senior Services, Union County Board of Developmental Disabilities, Union County Veterans Services and Memorial Hospital.”
The service operates on a first come-first serve basis, Alexander said. If two trip requests come in at the same time, UCATS prioritizes medical trips, she added.
“Currently the staffing is at four full-time equivalent positions and UCATS is budgeted for eight full-time equivalent positions,” Alexander said.
Ware said the department recently created a part-time position to help with the staffing issue. She said even that has been difficult to fill.
“We created a part-time position, hopefully trying to generate some more interest,” she said. “We’ve made a couple offers but no acceptances.”
She added that being understaffed has been the case for a while and continues to be a “sign of the times.”
Human Services is one of several agencies in the county experiencing the staffing issue. The Sheriff’s Office regularly reports a dip in staffing and so does the Union County Board of Developmental Disabilities, which has had a teaching position posted for more than a year.
The commissioners met again for the board’s regular Wednesday meeting and approved an amendment on its contract with Legends Lift and Transport out of northwestern part of the county.
The change increases the amount of federal funds UCHS can offer to the organization to provide services.
“It’s $194,000 and that’s because they’re doing more trips than they originally thought they would do in the beginning of the year,” Ware said. “So, it’s not local funds, it’s the federal Medicaid, so it’s the medical transports that they’re doing and they’re able to bill Medicaid.”
Alexander said the county contracts with four transportation service providers and this one is wheelchair capable.
“This is a West Mansfield company and they’ve grown their business in the last three years, so they’ve really been able to pick up our trips,” she said.
While the company’s address is West Mansfield, the address on Route 47 puts them in Union County, just west of York Center in York Township.
The county has contracted with the group for years as it offers rides to medical, appointments, dialysis centers, rehabilitation centers, hospital admission and discharge, senior centers, developmental disability centers, weddings and graduations, according to the organization’s website.