Joiner to take over reins of Monroe County Ambulance

With the retirement of John Christianson, director of the Monroe County Ambulance District, a decision was made to put the oversight of the district in the care of the Randolph County Ambulance District and Superintendent Clay Joiner. The change went into effect January 1.

Joiner, who worked as a paramedic in Monroe County for about 10 years, foresees a seamless transition.

“Monroe County has hired a company in St. Louis to do its billing which will help,” said Joiner. “Randolph County has covered Monroe County for years in mutual aid and at least a dozen of our employees also work for Monroe County so we are familiar with the operations and the people there.”

The Monroe County District employees five full-time and approximately 30 part-time personnel, said Joiner.

The districts are not combining, they will only share the superintendent and make some business changes, according to Joiner.

“This is by no means a merger,” said Joiner. “Randolph County will eventually do Monroe County’s bookkeeping and they will pay a fee for that. But this will in no way affect the service the ambulance district provides in Monroe or Randolph counties. People deserve the best emergency care possible and we will work together to provide that.”