The city has announced it will not renew its current contract with AMR. A decision that has some concerned.
/ FOX21 News: Mike Duran
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- The city's decision to not renew its current contract with AMR is stirring up some concerns and some controversy.
Last week Colorado Springs Fire Chief Rich Brown read a prepared statement before the Emergency Services Agency (ESA) board.
The ESA has overseen ambulance services in El Paso County and Colorado Springs for the last 18 years.
In the statement Brown said the city wants more control over the decision making and wants to look at new options.
After reading the statement Brown left without taking any questions, a move that has left some board members wondering about the city's desire to actually work with the county.
"It set a lot of the board members back in their chairs," Carl Tatum, Vice Chair of the ESA board, said. "It was disheartening for some and some were kind of disappointed or a little bit angry over the situation."
Tatum said the partnership, maintained through the ESA, helps keep emergency transport costs down.
"When you have one vendor that's transporting 80 percent of the citizens in El Paso County or 90 percent of the citizens in El Paso County you get a better deal on not only the equipment that you use but the supplies that you use as well," Tatum said.
In the statement Brown hints that the city wants a new contract that will provide them with reimbursement for their services.
"They want to be paid for a job that they're already being paid for through taxes," Tatum said.
Tatum said CSFD wants to collect an additional $2.4 million but the only way to do that would be to raise costs for the patient.
"Those fees are going to get passed onto the citizens somehow." Tatum said an expert estimated costs would increase nearly 40 percent.
"There's not a big mark-up in the 911 transport system. People believe that they're getting rich of 911 transports and that's just not the case," Tatum said.
Tatum said the board is still willing to work with CSFD but added that Brown hasn't made it clear what the city wants.
"Not one time has he called any of the ESA board members and said this is what we're looking at doing. If he truly believes that he wants a county wide system or a system that's not going to adversely affect the county, or the rest of the citizens, he would want to have that conversation. Right now he is holding everything at arms reach. He's not wanting to talk to anybody and I don't think that's the way a partnership should be," Tatum said.
The current contract with AMR expires at the end of March in 2014.
No one from CSFD was available for comment.
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