By Phaedra Haywood
The Santa Fe New Mexican (New Mexico)
Copyright 2006 The New Mexican
PECOS, N.M. — After years of searching, San Miguel County and the city of Las Vegas, N.M., finally have found a new provider of emergency medical services.
County Manager Les Montoya said the contract with the new provider, Southwest Ambulance Service, will cost the county a little more money, but the level of service will be greater. Montoya said better service was the main reason for the switch.
The county pays current provider Rocky Mountain EMS about $157,000 per year. It will pay the new provider about $175,000 per year. The new agreement won’t affect service in the Pecos area, which is delivered by Pecos Valley Ambulance, Montoya said.
John Cole, director of operations for Southwest Ambulance, said cost of the service could be reduced if the company gets more calls than anticipated. If that happens — and Southwest Ambulance is able to recoup more of its costs from patient payments — the county could end up paying less, Cole said.
Bidding on the contract was difficult, he said, because Rocky Mountain wasn’t very frank about the number of calls it has handled since it began serving the area in the late 1990s.
“I had a difficult time getting any documented information from them,” Cole said. “We have gotten a number from them, but how accurate it is I don’t know.”
Cole said Southwest Ambulance representatives will meet with county officials monthly to discuss response times and other topics.
“We’ll talk about every run we’ve done for the month,” Cole said. “We have to make it within a certain amount of time or make adjustments.”
The company’s goal is to be on the scene of medical emergencies in the city in 10 minutes or less 90 percent of the time and in the county in 29:59 minutes or less 90 percent of the time, according to Cole.
The company also will recruit EMS personnel at rural fire departments to work as alternate-response providers.
Cole said these individuals, many of them volunteers, would become part-time employees and receive a stipend for their cooperation as well as other benefits, including reduced costs for training.