With calls for lift assists growing in recent years, Illinois fire departments now can start collecting a fee for the service. Among the flurry of new laws that went into effect Thursday is one that allows fire departments to charge and collect “reasonable fees” from assisted-living facilities and nursing homes for lift assists, or calls involving someone who has fallen and is unable to get up on their own. The department may only begin charging for lift assists after the sixth one performed at a given facility in a year.
The law was introduced by Rep. Michael J. Kelly, D-Chicago, and endorsed by Illinois Municipal League, the latter of which said a rising number of lift-assist calls had been increasing costs for municipalities, diverting personnel away from more urgent emergencies and increasing municipal employer liability.
Other agencies have reported similar findings. The Washington Post reported in May that calls for lift assist emergencies had increased by 30% between 2019 and 2022. Jason Sheumaker, operations manager for LifeStar Ambulance Service’s Jacksonville division, told the Journal-Courier in 2024 that LifeStar had, at the time, been receiving an average of 10 lift assist calls a week.
Some fire chiefs are not expecting the new law to do much for their respective agencies. White Hall Fire Chief Cale Hoesman said that while he too had seen an incremental increase in lift assist calls over the years, firefighters usually are responding to other emergencies when they get called out to White Hall Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
“I don’t know that that would benefit us that much,” he said.
White Hall Fire Protection District’s resources have not seen much strain put on them as a result of lift assists, Hoesman said. Lift assist calls usually come in when the district isn’t busy with anything else, he said, and he has first responders on his roster who are able to “respond to most every call we have,” he said.
“It hasn’t really put a strain and it really hasn’t cost us anything other than the volunteers,” he said.
It would be up to White Hall Fire Protection District’s board of trustees to decide whether to begin charging facilities for lift assists, Hoesman said. If it does, any fees associated with lift assists would be “minimal,” he said, noting a section of the new law that prohibits any charges from “exceed(ing) the actual personnel and equipment costs for all services rendered by the municipality in connection with providing lift-assist services to a patient or other individual.”
“We’re a taxing body and already getting tax money to provide this service,” Hoesman said. “I don’t see (us) adding on to that at this time.”
