Monterey County rejects lone bid for new ambulance provider

This week, Monterey County announced they would not accept the bid from American Medical Response (AMR) as its new ambulance provider.

AMR was the only company that placed a bid on what was considered by other first responders a controversial contract proposal

“Under the current RFP, and the current bid made by AMR that’s going to put Monterey Counties transport fees at the top of the list as far as price point goes,” Salinas Fire Association President Josh Hostetter said.

As the May deadline came and went the county was left with just one bid option, which based on the proposed contract would force AMR to raise their prices.

“Reduce some of the costs and we’re going to put it out again,” Monterey County EMS director Michael Petrie said. “Frankly we think we can do better for the people of Monterey County”

Having to pull out of the deal wasn’t a big surprise for both sides and AMR agrees with coming up with something new.

“We are happy to explore system models that will be sustainable and promote the highest level of care for the people we serve,” AMR said in a statement.

Receiving only one bid is not unusual. In the latest EMS proposals in Northern California, about two-thirds of the counties received just one offer.

But Monterey County wants to try to attract more interest from ambulance providers, and says this is a chance to create a cheaper option.

“What would be a failure is if we put an ambulance provider in here that ultimately financially failed and had to be replaced, that’s what we’re trying to avoid,” Petrie said.

“Everyone’s been trying to draw attention to some of the issues and maybe some of the issues have
gone ahead and drawn attention to themselves,” Hostetter said.

The county is already working on a new service proposal, but if an agreement is not made by next January the county could become non-exclusive. That could leave other licensed providers running the calls and likely a less coordinated system.

AMR said it would support extending their contract if the county needs more time to put their proposal together. In the meantime, Petrie said they are already working around the clock to come up with a new contract proposal.