City of Greenwood to fine residential care facilities for calling 911 for non-emergencies

GREENWOOD, Ind. — More local assisted-living facilities will have to pay up when they call 911 for non-emergency situations. On Monday, Greenwood’s City Council agreed to become the next central Indiana municipality to impose fines for businesses straining emergency resources.

Since 2022, call data shows long-term care facilities account for 15% of all the city’s fire department runs each year. That’s over 880 calls so far in 2025 alone.

The problem, Mayor Mark Myers said, is that, in many cases, there isn’t a major medical emergency. Often, they’ll be called for lift assistance when a resident falls.

“The residents are paying a fee to that facility anyway,” Myers said. “It’s their responsibility to take care of their patients.”

Myers said resources can become strained when ambulances are taken out of service for non-emergencies. Despite the City’s EMS chief meeting with residential care facilities about the problem, he said calls keep coming in.

“I saw where Mayor Willis did it up in Westfield — was very impressed with it,” Myers said. “I thought, ‘Hey, if it’s going to work, we’ll make it work as well.'”

Earlier this summer, Westfield’s City Council passed an ordinance to fine facilities that repeatedly call for non-emergency situations. City officials there are taking some time to educate businesses about it and will begin enforcement next month.

“I do think that this is going to be something that other departments are going to be watching us closely, Westfield Fire Department closely,” said Greenwood Fire Chief Jayme Washel.

Washel also plans to review details with facilities before the fines start. Just like in Westfield, violators in Greenwood will be billed $500 dollars for their first, second and third offenses, and $1,000 for any subsequent offenses per calendar year.

“We’re going to be watching the data month-to-month, and what I hope to see is the trend and call volumes start to drop,” Washel said.

New Whiteland’s town council recently took action too, approving a $300 fee for each excessive call made by residential care facilities. The council president said their volunteer firefighters have seen days with multiple unnecessary runs to assisted living facilities, but not enough time has passed to say whether the new rule has changed patterns and habits.

Monday night, Greenwood’s council unanimously passed its ordinance, hoping to deter what it sees as further “unreasonable and unwarranted demand.”

Washel said if any money is collected from fines, it will help pay for EMS supplies.