News

Rival Buys Calif. Rural Metro Ambulance Company

Jeff McDonald

10/29/2015

Oct. 28--The sale of Rural Metro Corp., which has a city contract to provide ambulance services in San Diego, closed on Wednesday.

The Scottsdale, Arizona, company was sold to the parent company of rival American Medical Response, or AMR, based in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

The sale price was announced as "approximately $620 million." The company said Rural Metro generates $590 million in annual revenue, and the buyer expects operating savings of up to $28 million through 2017 by integrating the two services.

"As a former Rural Metro employee, this feels like a bit of a homecoming for me," said Edward Van Horne, AMR president and chief executive officer, in a statement.

Rural Metro has provided ambulance service in San Diego since 1997 without a competitive bidding process. City officials approved a new five-year no-bid contract in June.

The company was fined $230,000 earlier this month for failing to meet response times required in the contract -- arriving at emergency scenes within 12 minutes 90 percent of the time, and within 15 and 30 minutes for less serious incidents -- from July to September.

Last week, Rural Metro issued a "plan to cure" saying it would pay double-time when needed, offer incentive bonuses to eligible recruits and take additional steps to improve staffing levels and service.

The San Diego Fire Department said the late-arrivals penalty could have been higher. A glitch in the city's computer network rendered recorded response times incorrect from January to June. Officials said the problem has since been corrected.

In a memo to Mayor Kevin Faulconer and the City Council on Wednesday, Chief Operating Officer Scott Chadwick said he would be in frequent contact with the new emergency medical services provider to see the transition is smooth.

"I will be in bi-weekly contact with AMR to ensure that service levels dictated by the provider contract are met," Chadwick said.

According to Chadwick, AMR already serves the cities of Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, National City, La Mesa, Lemon Grove and El Cajon and the communities of Bonita, Rancho Santa Fe, parts of Elfin Forest and the San Miguel Fire Protection District.