Missouri County Seeks New EMS Service

July 17--Officials have the ball rolling on one option that would provide ambulance service in Buchanan County.

A meeting was held Wednesday to familiarize outside companies with a Request for Proposals (RFP), which would allow them to take over operations when Heartland Regional Medical Center drops its service on July 1, 2014.

The turnkey service is just one of three options a citizen's committee is weighing. Others include creating a board-run ambulance district or having the county run the service. A final decision is expected near the end of August.

Dwight Scroggins, co-chairman of the CARE committee, said 14 companies have asked to receive the RFP. Representatives for eight companies were present at the bidder's conference.

That included the St. Joseph Fire Department, which is undergoing a lengthy internal discussion about whether it would be feasible to take over the ambulance service.

"Personally, I'd like to see us do that. I think it would be a good fit," said Kenny Cordonnier, chief of fire prevention. " ... I think it's feasible, but it's the nuts and bolts of it that's in question."

Other companies present were MedForce EMS, ProMed EMS, Health Care Vision, Techs Inc., LifeNet, American Medical Response and MedicOne.

Wednesday's meeting was an opportunity for each company to ask questions regarding the RFP or clarify information already provided. Those present had questions about the breakdown of number of calls per service, location of calls per service and collections by payer.

A representative with American Medical Response also wanted to ensure the RFP included an exclusivity contract, so another company could not come in later and provide its own ambulance service, including non-emergency transport. Mr. Scroggins said the committee would need to look further into that issue. However, he believes Heartland is wanting out of the service all together, and will not be providing non-emergency transport for its patients.

"It has to be all or nothing, that's our stance," the AMR rep said. "(If not) we're going to be upside down pretty quick -- that's not just us, that's any service."

Another interested party, Steve Athey, president and owner of Health Care Visions, asked for an extension on the RFP deadline, advising the committee it would be difficult to provide a comprehensive proposal in such a short time frame.

"This is a very complicated RFP that requires a lot of thought, and Aug. 8 is just right around the corner," he said via conference call from his EMS consulting firm in Texas.

Mr. Scroggins recognized the tight deadline, but said having something on the November ballot is the only way to ensure there is no gap in ambulance service come next year.

All companies must submit a letter of intent by July 24, with full proposals due by Aug. 8. The CARE committee will evaluate the proposals between Aug. 15 and Aug. 22, and will submit a recommendation to the county commissioners on Aug. 24. County commissioners must then approve ballot language by Aug. 27.

Before that date, they must also decide if they will go with one of the outside companies or form an ambulance district. A petition to form the district is currently circulating in Buchanan County, but only has 600 signatures. It needs 3,600.

It can be signed in the lobby of Heartland or in the county commission office at the Courthouse.

Kim Norvell can be reached at kim.norvell@newspressnow.com. Follow her on Twitter: @SJNPNorvell.

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