City considers change of provider, owning ambulances
By Clay Bailey
The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Copyright 2007 The Commercial Appeal, Inc.
Germantown officials want better accountability over ambulance service and believe there are companies more efficient and effective than Rural/Metro, the current provider under a Shelby County contract.
“Staff has explored various options available to improve service and give Germantown total control over the EMS system,” City Administrator Patrick Lawton wrote in a report to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. “Our research has found that other companies can possibly provide ambulance service to the city in a more efficient and effective manner.”
But Lawton stopped short Wednesday of saying the suburb will opt out of the county ambulance contract. He said Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy’s administration is not making a recommendation at this point, and the report was only to provide aldermen with information on response time, history and equipment issues before they deal with the matter in a special meeting Monday.
“We’ve tried to give them facts on the current situation,” Lawton said. “Part of that is saying other companies have contacted us.”
Meanwhile, Alderman Carole Hinely said Wednesday afternoon she’s ready for the city to get into the ambulance business on its own, similar to Bartlett.
“I would like to see us be able to afford our own ambulance service,” Hinely said, “and I definitely would be in favor if Collierville and Germantown could get together. That would relieve the financial burden on one particular municipality.
“The citizens want it, and I definitely think we should look in that direction.”
Ambulance service is under review across Shelby County. The county has a contract with Rural/Metro to answer calls in unincorporated Shelby County and all of the cities, except Memphis and Bartlett, which fund their own service.
Several extended response times for the ambulance contractor led to complaints. County Mayor A C Wharton presented a proposal earlier this month to increase the number of ambulances to eventually answer the bulk of the calls in nine minutes.
The additional cost would be shared by various jurisdictions based on the ratio of calls answered to their cities last year.
Germantown must let the county know if it will be part of the new agreement by Feb. 1. That led to scheduling Monday’s meeting on the matter so aldermen can give direction on the issue. The city long has wanted better oversight of the system - a point repeated in Lawton’s report.
“Having total control over the EMS system in Germantown is an important step in meeting the (long-term) goals of having the safest city in the southeast, taking a proactive approach to community safety, and providing effective emergency response,” Lawton wrote.