UMC might cancel ambulance contracts

By Emily Richmond

Monday, April 16, 2001 | 11:31 a.m.

The University Medical Center board of trustees is considering terminating two contracts with American Medical Response and Southwest ambulance services -- one to provide transport for critical care patients and a second that allows the companies to "rent" UMC nurses to ride with the units.

Richard Plummer, spokesman for the board, said the proposal to cancel the contracts is an effort to save money. The critical care transport program isn't breaking even, though the contracts were renegotiated in November and the fee for the nurses was increased to $23.05 per hour, Plummer said.

Sharon Henry, executive partner of Southwest Ambulance, said she was taken aback by a faxed notice from the board that it was considering terminating the contracts just five months after terms were renegotiated. UMC is seeking an increase in the hourly fee for its nurses to $30, Henry said.

Some patients, such as critically ill infants or people awaiting transplants, require specially equipped ambulances for transfer between medical facilities. A critical care nurse is required to ride with patients in addition to the paramedics, who normally staff the ambulances, Plummer said.

If the board votes during its Tuesday meeting to terminate the contracts, the medical center would use its own ambulances and nurses to provide transportation for critical patients between facilities, Plummer said. Hospital officials wouldn't say how much they expect to save by terminating the contracts.

"They have us in a tight spot," Henry said. "We all know there's a shortage of nurses in town, and we might have no choice but to pay the increased price."

Without the contract for the transport services with UMC, the only public hospital in the county, Southwest would likely have few other critical care transport calls that would require staffing the ambulance with specially-trained nurses, Henry said.

The critical transport contract was an important gain for Southwest, which began operating in the fall, Henry said.

The ambulance company began its 911 emergency service in Clark County Saturday and will share territory that for 40 years was covered solely by AMR.

Allison Newlon, director of public affairs and marketing for AMR, said her company was confident it would be able to renegotiate both contracts.