Long-Time Ambulance Provider Gives Notice to Cease Operations in Bishop Area kibskbov.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kibskbov.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Livermore-Pleasanton Fire union president Joe McThorn said the county s search for a new emergency transportation provider has been long overdue as he s seen the current contractor, Falck, take up to 40 minutes to respond.
By Pablo Quilantan
The Chula Vista City Council moved to transition ambulance services to the city’s fire department without significant public input, which could be costly for the city’s more than 270,000 residents.
The decision, which was made on May 12 with little to no opportunity for public input or scrutiny, bucked a 40-year trend of contracting those services out to private contractors instead of fire department employees.
Now, city officials claim that the proposed $2,800 transport rate is $1,000 less than what the rate will be if there are no changes to the transport arrangement. The transport rate is what the patient is charged by the ambulance company to be taken to the hospital.
By Pablo Quilantan
On Oct. 1, 2020 the City of Chula Vista slammed its residents with an astoundingly high ambulance transport rate of $3,881.56. This increase was part of a previously negotiated agreement by the City with its ambulance services contractor, American Medical Response (AMR).
However, AMR won’t profit from the increase.
The transport rate increase was arranged by contract with the City so that AMR is required to reimburse Chula Vista back for a firefighter paramedic program that the City cannot afford by shifting the cost onto its residents. The majority of the increased transport rate ($2,161.92) will go to the City in reimbursement for the fire department firefighter paramedic response service. The rate balance ($1,719.64), is the AMR charge for the paramedic care and transport to the hospital. This is why the current rate is so high and the public is paying more for an ambulance ride.