Jacksonville waives $235,000 in ambulance fines to stabilize service

The Jacksonville Municipal Ambulance Commission voted at its first 2026 meeting to waive roughly $235,000 in fines assessed against LifeStar Ambulance Service for lapses meeting the city ordinance staffing requirements during parts of 2025. The decision was framed around maintaining and improving emergency medical coverage for Jacksonville and Morgan County while local providers work to stabilize their staffing and operations.

Commissioners said overall emergency response has improved since ECHO Response EMS began operating alongside LifeStar last year. That improvement, coupled with signs that LifeStar is addressing staffing shortfalls, prompted the commission to prioritize reliable service over immediate enforcement of the full monetary penalties. The waived amount stems from fines tied to periods when LifeStar did not have the required advanced life support unit available as mandated by city rules.

Alongside the fine waiver, the commission approved a change to dispatch procedures intended to smooth operational complications at the 911 center. Under the new protocol, calls will be alternated between LifeStar and ECHO to reduce confusion and ensure a more predictable distribution of responses. If LifeStar does not have the required ALS unit available when it is their turn to receive a call, dispatch will skip them and route the call to ECHO. The change is designed to shorten handoffs and avoid delays caused by last-minute unit unavailability.

For local residents this means ambulance responses will come from whichever provider is available under the alternating system, with the aim of keeping advanced life support closer to home more consistently. City officials and the commission emphasized that the decision was made to protect frontline patient care while allowing time for both providers to meet contractual and ordinance requirements.

The commission intends to keep oversight in place as the providers stabilize coverage. If staffing and compliance do not continue to improve, the commission retains the ability to revisit enforcement actions and financial penalties under the city ordinance. For now, the policy shift and dispatch alternation will be monitored for impacts on response times and service reliability.

The immediate effect should be a steadier pattern of ambulance responses across Jacksonville and surrounding areas in Morgan County. Residents should continue using 911 for emergencies; the new alternating dispatch is intended to make that system work more reliably while local ambulance services adjust staffing and operations.