By Karen de Sa
Mercury News
A year and half after taking over 911 calls for 14 Santa Clara County cities and its vast unincorporated areas, the Rural Metro ambulance company has violated its contract by repeatedly responding too slowly to emergencies, has paid more than $4.7 million in fines and faces the threat of the first paramedics strike in recent history.
County Executive Jeff Smith said last week that with just one more contract violation of the type that occurred in 2011 and twice in 2012 the county may have to consider terminating the agreement with the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company, which was notified Jan. 18 that it was in breach of contract. Rural Metro’s performance is being closely watched in part because of the process under which it took over the county’s ambulance contract from a longtime incumbent in 2011.
“We’ve made it clear to them we have remedies that go beyond fines,” Smith said. “We’ve specifically told them that if you can’t perform, we’re going to cancel the contract and start all over again.”
Full story: 911 problem: Slow response violates Rural Metro’s ambulance contract with Santa Clara County