Washington City`s Ambulance Service Won`t Be Free

Free ambulance rides will be a thing of the past in Auburn starting Jan. 1.

The City Council this week approved hiring a private ambulance company to handle most of the aid calls in the city.

Either way, the council decided, the charge will be the same: $ 658 per trip plus $ 13.50 per mile.

The Auburn Fire Department handles about 1,600 of 2,600 aid calls each year in the city, and hasn't been charging for them, said Mayor Pete Lewis. Private ambulances handle most of the rest. The city has been losing about $ 492,000 a year in money it could collect for the Fire Department transports, he said.

Lewis signed a contract Wednesday with American Medical Response, or AMR, to provide ambulance service within the city starting Jan. 1. AMR will pay the city $ 3,085 a month to be its ambulance provider.

Lewis said the city needed to make the change to reserve its 68 firefighters for emergencies, such as fires and rescues.

"We need those firefighters every hour, every day," Lewis said. "We've got a growing city and the same number of firefighters."

He said the city also was legally obligated to give ambulance companies a chance to provide more services.

The city and the ambulance company will provide waivers for those without insurance or who are unable to pay, Lewis said.

- - -