WALKER — The new authority for the Walker Ambulance Service selected North Memorial Health to continue providing emergency medical services to the area.
The contract was finalized with the provider on Friday, May 16. Hubbard and Cass counties took over the area ambulance district from the city of Walker by forming a special joint taxing authority, which is set to begin collecting taxes from service area residents next year. The new authority also approved a $528,500 levy to fund the ambulance service in 2026 during the meeting.
North Memorial is the current provider for the Walker ambulance service area and was expected to be the sole bidder when the special taxing district was created in January. Essentia Health also responded to the request-for-proposal, but meeting minutes indicate it later withdrew.
The Walker ambulance service area covers townships and communities within 30 minutes of Walker, such as Laporte and Akeley in Hubbard County and townships around Leech Lake in Cass County.
Many rural EMS providers are based in a city and supported by taxes paid by city residents. But they also serve nearby townships, residents of which typically don’t pay the tax.
The city of Walker said it could no longer support the financially troubled ambulance district on its own.
The finance structure compounds with other issues rural EMS providers face, like staffing shortages, rising costs and stagnant federal reimbursement rates.
