News Editor The Lexington City Council last Tuesday night approved terminating the one-year contract with Lafayette Regional Health Center for ambulance services, a step that Hospital Board President Jim Kenney thinks could have been avoided.

Although the contract — which went into effect Dec. 9, 2025 — covers emergency and non-emergency transports, the move will have no impact on emergency transports, since the city is required by federal and state law to provide emergency transports.

Alluding to a meeting on May 8 that included city officials, Hospital Board and LRHC officials, the Fire Chief and Police Chief, Kenney said the meeting “should have happened last fall,” before the agreement was adopted.

“(Ending the contract) could have been avoided had we had this meeting last fall,” remarked Kenney. “…Let’s learn from that and cooperate a little better.”

Kenney, though, said the contract “was not sustainable mainly because of the pay structure that was put in place in it. But it’s a shame we had to get to this point.”

Kenney also said it was counterproductive that Hospital Board members and LRHC officials have been excluded from Council executive sessions when hospital matters are discussed.

“You hear only one side; it’s not balanced,” commented Kenney.

At the April 28 Council meeting, city officials discussed whether the hospital was responsible for reimbursing the city for non-emergency transfers under the now-voided contract. The Council also discussed the possibility of eliminating non-E transports at some point due to the costs to the city.

During last week’s meeting, Kenney claimed some of the Council comments on April 28 cast the hospital in a negative light. Kenney said the discussion was “one-sided,” adding he was not allowed to speak to share the hospital’s side of the story.

Responding to a comment made at the April 28 meeting that the city has been receiving no funding for running non-E transports for the hospital, Kenney stated the city did receive around $600,000 last year in insurance reimbursements for ambulance services.

In response to the comment that only 38 percent of those receiving non-E transports are Lexington residents, Kenney said it’s “wonderful” that so many people from around the region are benefitting from the service.

He added, “We had about 1,500 people last year that came into the outpatient clinic. Not all of them are Lexington residents, and we embrace these people to come to our community.”

Kenney last week also cautioned city officials to carefully consider how they publicly comment about the hospital and provide the proper context during discussions.

He also called for city and hospital leaders to work together in a spirit of cooperation.

“Let’s make sure we’re working together in a partnership and a collaborative atmosphere,” said Kenney.