Spokane, Washington to Consider AMR Inquiry

Mar. 16--Spokane Mayor Dennis Hession said Wednesday he will consider a request for an "external investigation" of the relationship between a private ambulance company and the Spokane Fire Department administration.

Hession responded a day after Spokane Firefighters Local 29 called for an outside investigation, triggered by American Medical Response's public admission to overbilling Spokane patients $320,689 in the last two years.

The ambulance company, which has an exclusive contract to provide emergency service in Spokane, is promising refunds but also faces substantial fines from the city.

"After reviewing your concerns, I am willing to initiate an external review if I determine one is warranted," the mayor said in a letter delivered Wednesday afternoon to Lt. Greg Borg, president of Local 29.

Borg immediately took the mayor up on his offer to meet, and a private meeting was scheduled for March 29 at City Hall.

The firefighters union issued a toughly worded statement on Tuesday, calling for the external investigation into the relationship between AMR and the Spokane Fire Department administration.

"Chief (Bobby) Williams also said he would welcome an outside review," Hession said in a letter delivered to the firefighters union.

The union's concern about patient overbilling was first raised five years ago with Fire Chief Williams and his emergency services chief Rich Kness, but nothing was done, Borg said.

"We tried to get Mayor West to look at it last year, but he was too preoccupied with other issues and nothing was done," Borg said. "So we welcome this opportunity and will sit down with Mayor Hession to express our concerns."

The Fire Department receives $25,000 a month from AMR under the contract giving the ambulance company the exclusive right to respond to 911 calls in the city.

The department has assigned the emergency services chief to monitor the ambulance contract, and Kness does monthly spot checks to ensure patients are being correctly billed, the fire chief has told a City Council subcommittee.

Late last year, the subcommittee, composed of Bob Apple, Al French and Mary Verner, began investigating the ambulance contract, including response times and overbilling.

AMR regional executive Randy Strozyk last week told the Public Safety Committee that the company had overbilled Spokane residents $320,689 in the past two years and was mailing refund checks.

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