HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 10281997 - C51 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM:
William Walker, M.D. , Health Services Director :.
f
j2 Contra
DATE: October 15, 1997 Costa
„ County
SUBJECT: Approve Ambulance Service Agreement #23-024-15 with Regional Ambulance,
Inc . (dba American Medical Response)
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
I . RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Approve and authorize the Health Services Director, or his
designee (Art Lathrop) , to execute on behalf of the County,
Ambulance Service Agreement #23-024-15 with Regional Ambulance,
Inc . (dba American Medical Response) , effective. November 3 , 1997
through N6vember 2, 2002, with a monthly subsidy of $182, 257, not
to exceed $2, 187, 084 annually, for provision of emergency
ambulance services in County' s Emergency Response Areas (ERA) 1,
2 , and 5, except for those portion of ERA 1 contained within the
Moraga-Orinda Fire Protection District .
II . FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no County General Fund impact . All payments are funded
under CSA EM-1 (Measure H) .
III . REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS/BACKGROUND:
County Service Area EM-1 was established in 1989 to provide
enhanced emergency medical services, including rapid paramedic-
staffed ambulance response, to the residents of Contra Costa
County. On March 5, 1991, following a competitive selection
process, the Board of Supervisors approved a contract with
Regional Ambulance, Inc . , a predecessor organization to American
Medical Response (AMR) , to provide emergency ambulance services in
Emergency Response Areas (ERAs) 1, 2, and 5, covering all areas of
the County except those served by San Ramon Valley Fire and Moraga
Fire (Related contracts are in effect with Moraga-Orinda Fire and
San Ramon Valley Fire covering emergency ambulance services in
ERAS 3 and 4 . ) The Board of Supervisors subsequently approved
contract extensions for services through November 2, 1997 .
In November 1996, the Health Services Department widely advertised
and distributed a Request for Proposal (RFP) for emergency
ambulance services . Copies of the RFP and announcements were sent
to all ambulance providers in California, as well as major
providers nation-wide, including advertising in the American
Ambulance Association Journal . At a bidders, conference held in
January 1997, representatives of both the current ambulance
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES XX SIGNATURE
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE _OTHER
SIGNATURES): /
ACTION OF BOARD ON n r�L�".L_> '29 �q�_7 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED .! OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
UNANIMOUS (ABSENT 1 AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
ATTESTED rktsL a 17?7
PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OFT E BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
Contact Person: Art Paull (646-4690)-
CC:
646-4690)CC: Health Services(Contracts)
Risk Management
Auditor Controller BY SIL V.P.I DEPUTY
Contractor
Y
01,61
Board Order
#23-024-15
Page 2
provider AMR and Laidlaw, owner of Baystar Ambulance, were present
and expressed an intent to submit proposals . Subsequently,
however, Laidlaw acquired AMR and only a single proposal was
submitted to the Department for emergency ambulance services in
ERAs 1, 2, and S .
Key provisions of the proposed contract with AMR are as follows:
(1) The term of the contract is through November 2, 2002,
however, the County may terminate the contract earlier, at
its sole discretion and without penalty, in conjunction with
any redesign of the EMS system.
(2) The basic subsidy to be paid AMR has been reduced by 12 . 6
percent from the level currently paid and from the level
proposed by AMR in response to the RFP. (A portion of the
savings is proposed to go to the Moraga-Orinda Fire District
when the District assumes ambulance transport responsibility
for the Orinda area. However, the net reduction in ambulance
subsidy will remain at least 10 percent from the current
subsidy rate . )
(3) Charges for an AMR-staffed first responder paramedic unit to
provide enhanced paramedic coverage to Discovery Bay, Byron,
and other areas of East Diablo remain unchanged and are fixed
for the term of the contract . (This is an additional service
provided at the direction of the County. )
(4) The Orinda portion of ERA 2 is removed from the AMR response
area. However, AMR will continue to provide services to
Orinda until directed by the County to terminate services in
that area. A subsidy for services in the Orinda area
(approximately 2 . 6 percent of the current subsidy amount)
will be paid to AMR while services are provided in the Orinda
area.
(5) Ambulance services which would otherwise be the
responsibility of the Contra Costa Health Plan or Contra
Costa Regional Medical Center are provided by AMR without
charge to the County. A cap for Health Plan patients is set
at 110 percent of the number of such transports provided
during the past year. Additional transports are billed at
Medi-Cal rates .