Supervisors seeking new ambulance contracts

On Tuesday, Washington County Supervisors decided they will be seeking new ambulance services for Washington County.

Currently, Washington County has a contract with Washington County Ambulance Service, an independent provider. Under the current contract, two ambulances are fully staffed 24/7 and two additional ambulances are staffed on an as-need basis. The two additional ambulances, staffed with on-call workers, are provided as a courtesy and are not included in the $14,500 a month contract.

During the meeting on Tuesday, supervisors explained they felt it necessary to seek having four ambulances in the new contract. Due to the number of calls, supervisors feel it necessary that the provider list the cost of three fully staffed ambulances and a fourth for backup if one of the other trucks is in need of repair and cannot be used.

The county's contract with the Washington County Ambulance Service expires June 30, 2019, which is why the supervisors have decided to seek a request for proposals. Washington County Ambulance Services will be allowed to participate in the request for proposals.

In the new proposals, the county has requested companies provide financials for providing four ambulances: three fully staffed and an additional one to have on standby.

Andre Ruby, a paramedic with Washington County Ambulance, explained he personally was concerned about being able to staff ambulances because there are 600 open paramedic jobs within the state of Iowa and fewer than 100 graduates per year on average. Based on this shortage, Ruby was not confident Washington County could find the recruits to fill the job positions.

'To staff based off probability is a huge risk,” he said.

Washington County resident Bruce Murphy raised concern that there was a specific location designated for each of these fully staffed ambulances. He was concerned that if the ambulances left to transfer a patient to Iowa City, there would not be an ambulance available within the city limits.

Supervisor Abe Miller addressed this by reading from the request for proposal (RFP) where under scope of services it explains the reasoning for requesting three fully staffed ambulances and an additional on-call. The RFP states: 'Due to the volume of calls within the county, it is the intent of this RFP that the successful vendor shall maintain and fully staff, at its own cost and expense, three state-certified ambulances and equipment necessary to provide paramedic levels of service throughout the county and other jurisdictions as necessary.”

Supervisor Jack Seward also addressed this issue when he made a motion to include in the FAQ (frequently asked questions) section of the contract that the 911 services are the priority of the fully staffed ambulances, not transport. He said although choosing a contract that would employ three fully staffed ambulances and a fourth standby ambulance would come at a significant cost, he felt that due to the number of calls the service takes, it was a necessary expense.

'I think we're recognizing that yes, it's going to cost more. If it didn't cost any more we wouldn't be going for a new contract, we would be looking to extend the present,” he said.

The RFP was approved by a vote of 4-1 with supervisor and ambulance director Richard Young abstaining.