Ambulance companies' turf war expected to heat up next month

A war between two ambulance services competing for the right to transport the Las Vegas Valley's sick and wounded has already prompted a lawsuit and is likely to become more contentious in the next month.

The upstart company Southwest Ambulance has tried to prove a need for a second ambulance service by publicly criticizing the response times of the existing service, American Medical Response (AMR).

"Every month here 750 people receive long response times to life-threatening emergencies," John Wilson, Southwest's executive partner said, citing raw numbers obtained by his firm. "That's one of every five people who call."

AMR has firmly responded that with a fleet of 80 ambulances and 500 employees, it needs no assistance in handling emergency calls throughout the sprawling valley.

"A study conducted by the Polaris Group (of Atlanta) says we have one of the most economical and efficient systems in the country," said Michael Williams, chief executive officer of AMR.

But the ultimate decision rests with the Clark County Commission.

The board is expected to rely on a Missouri-based consultant's report when it decides in December whether the county's population explosion and ongoing development has prompted the need for multiple services.

Jim Spinello, the county's franchise manager, said Fitch and Associates was hired to study whether there is a need for an additional ambulance service.

The county's franchise ordinance says if a second company is to enter the market, it must prove there is a "need and necessity" for the service.

Spinello said the consultants, who have submitted a draft report and are meeting with county officials this week, looked at how two services would affect rates and how the valley would be divided to accommodate both companies.

The $42,000 bill for the consultant will be passed on to Southwest Ambulance, which in March announced its intent to submit an application to compete with AMR and began the process.

Last month, AMR filed a lawsuit against Wilson's organization seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting Southwest from using its confidential business information to establish its service.

Wilson's partner, Sharon Henry, was vice president of Laidlaw Medical Transportation, Inc., the former parent company to Mercy, which then merged with AMR. Wilson was AMR's chief operating officer from 1993 to 1998, when he quit because he believed the company's philosophy had shifted.

"I think their commitment to the community changed," Wilson said. "That organization is strictly profit-driven."

AMR has a joint franchise agreement with the cities of North Las Vegas and Las Vegas as well as Clark County. While it is regulated by an oversight committee, the company relies solely on user fees.

Williams said his company charges an average of $450 per call; when mileage is added, the fee amounts to about $500.

"We charge absolutely nothing to the community; taxpayers don't pay anything," Williams said.

The question is: If a second ambulance service is introduced in the valley, how would it affect residents? The answer depends upon who is asked.

Williams said his company would have the same overhead costs and has to maintain its response time, which should not exceed 8 minutes, 59 seconds, according to AMR's contract with the county. If half of AMR's business is taken away, rates likely would be increased.

"The national trend clearly is not to add providers," Williams said. "Competition is the American way of life and we all appreciate it, but this is not a typical commodity industry."

Williams said if the county is unhappy with AMR, which no one has indicated, then it should wait until its contract expires in 2003. He said AMR won the contract through a request for proposal process, and it would be unfair to add another service without opening up the bidding nationwide.

Wilson, whose company is partnering with Rural Metro Corporation -- AMR's chief competitor nationwide -- believes competition is important to the ambulance service industry. He said it keeps rates down and forces businesses to provide above-average service.

If AMR had competition, he said, the company might be willing to release official figures related to response times. Wilson said the firm has been unwilling to do so.

"The sheer growth in the valley demands there is a need for more than one provider," he said. "There is no community this size we could find that doesn't have some form of competition in the private sector."

Henry, Wilson's partner, also questioned Williams' and AMR's true thoughts on competition.

In a letter requesting a "certificate of necessity" from the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services in Phoenix, AMR Managing Director Paul Pedersen Jr. cites reasons why Pima County needs AMR's services.

"In terms of private ambulance service providers in Pima County, essentially, a monopoly exists," Pedersen wrote. "As such, there is no opportunity for limited competition based on service quality. Additionally, and more importantly, there is no separate private service to provide backup during instances of excessive calls, catastrophic incidents or disasters."

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