Calif. City Suspends Two Ambulance Services

Riverside has temporarily barred two ambulance companies from picking up patients in the city after they failed to meet its requirements.

The City Council voted Tuesday, April 5, to suspend franchise agreements with Cavalry Ambulance and AmeriCare Ambulance. The companies are among a half dozen the city had allowed run prescheduled, nonemergency calls in Riverside. American Medical Response, or AMR, handles 911 calls through a contract with the county.

After years of a de facto monopoly for AMR, allowing multiple ambulance companies to operate in the city is still relatively new, and Tuesday was the first time a company’s permit was suspended.

Cavalry failed to meet a deadline this month for accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services, an independent industry group, city officials said.

AmeriCare, which received a city franchise in 2015 but had not begun running calls, had its operating permit from Riverside County suspended. The city requires ambulance companies to have a valid county permit.

Cavalry officials questioned the fairness of the deadline they were given, but a majority of the council rejected Councilman Paul Davis’s proposal to give the company seven more months to comply. The council could reinstate the franchise once the company receives accreditation.

AmeriCare lost its Riverside County permit because it didn’t have a facility in the county to keep its ambulances, but officials told the council they’ve signed a lease for a facility in the city. The council voted to suspend the company’s franchise until it can meet the city’s requirements.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9461 or arobinson@pe.com