MED-Star Ambulance CEO addresses county commissioners over loss of body service

SIOUX FALLS – Owner and CEO of MED-Star Ambulance Service of Brandon, Jay Masur, addressed Minnehaha County Commissioners during regular public comment time at the Tuesday, Jan. 27 meeting here.

At that time, Masur, who has addressed the commissioners before, showed them how a lack of county subsidy, and now the removal of part of his business duties, was making it almost impossible for MED-Star to perform emergency 9-1-1 services to the county.

He explained how the cities of Brandon, Valley Springs, and some of the townships were already giving him subsidies for his service, and he was asking that Minnehaha County do the same.

He showed in a PowerPoint how his other services were already covering the 9-1-1 aspect of MED-Star.

Those services include medical transports, wheelchair pick-up and dead body retrieval.

However, as of the end of 2024, Masur said, the body retrieval services were taken away from him, cutting into his support for the 9-1-1 services.

At that time, Masur said in a separate interview, he was paid $400 per body.

Late in 2024, he told the county he could not do that job for less than $1,000 per body.

When MED-Star and Minnehaha County could not come to terms on a price, Masur said he gave notice that he would no longer be providing that service.

In his comments to the commission, Masur referred to how this state-mandated service, which his company had done for the past seven years, then was given to another business.

Although Masur did not name the business, the contract signed by Minnehaha went to Dakota Embalming and Transport Services of Sioux Falls, located south of the boundary line inside Lincoln County.

Masur and MED-Star are both located in Brandon, which is in Minnehaha County.

What made the switch harder to palate, Masur said, was that, as shown in the 2024 contract, Dakota Embalming was receiving $1,050 per body pick-up, with a $3,000 per month “on-call” fee that MED-Star never asked for.

Because of this lack of business for his service, Masur implied that without a regular subsidy of $90,000 per year, MED-Star would no longer be able to perform 9-1-1 services for any place in Minnehaha County that does not already subsidize his business (Brandon, Valley Springs and certain townships).

“I am open and available for discussions with all of you,” Masur told commissioners. “I love what I do … but at the same time, I’ve got a family to feed.”

He further explained that his asking to be subsidized, especially in light of the removal of his body-retrieval duties, is “no different than you county commissioners, instead of getting a 10% raise, when you come to sit in that chair, you pay $50,000 a year to work for the county.

“That is what you are telling me to do – not ‘asking,’ ‘telling’ – because you refuse to help my service with the 9-1-1 calls.

“I’m done with begging and asking for something that should not be a beg or an ask.”

As usual, with public comments, there was no response of interaction by commissioners, but when asked about this earlier, commission chairperson Dean Karsky said that when MED-Star withdrew its services in 2024, the county had to scramble to find an alternative vendor to fill that duty. 

They went with Dakota Embalming, and, as that company has been “a reliable provider” and there were “no problems” with them, the commission voted to renew their agreement for this year.

The next commission meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, on the third floor of the Minnehaha County Administration Building at Sixth and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.