By Larry Mitchell
The Oroville Mercury Register
BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. — An ambulance company based in Southern California will apply again to start operating in Butte County.
Jim Karras, vice president and general manager of Priority One Medical Transport of Ontario, said he expects to submit an application to Sierra-Sacramento Emergency Medical Services Agency (EMSA) in about a month.
The main obstacle Priority One faces is finding a local hospital willing to serve as a base station, which Sierra Sacramento EMSA requires, he said. Through a hospital base station, medical personnel advise paramedics in the field about medications to use and procedures to perform, Karras said.
Priority One’s effort to do business in Butte began in 2004, after some local emergency medical technicians approached his company saying Butte County could use more ambulance operators, he said.
In 2006, Priority One submitted an application to operate in Butte to the Northern California EMSA, which at the time was under contract with Butte County. Every county must either serve as its own EMSA or contract with one. These agencies plan and coordinate emergency medical services, and they qualify and accredit paramedics and other personnel.
Karras said Northern California EMSA accepted Priority One’s application and approached Enloe Medical Center, Oroville Hospital and Feather River Hospital about serving as a base station for the newcomer. All three hospitals declined, Karras said.
Feather River Hospital had to say no because it didn’t have space or the resources to hire staff for a base station, said Maureen Wisener, a spokeswoman for the ridge hospital.
The next thing to happen was Enloe Medical Center, the ambulance service First Responder, and Oroville Hospital sued Northern California EMSA, claiming it had no right to approve Priority One’s application.
In the suit, the plaintiffs argued that the only two ambulance companies operating in the county, Enloe and First Responder, had been serving the area for so long that they were legally “grandfathered in,” which meant additional operators were excluded.
Karras said Northern California EMSA argued additional companies could be excluded only if “exclusive operating areas” were established with one or more contracts awarded through competitive bids.
Karras said a hearing was held in Butte County Superior Court, and the case was decided in favor of Northern California EMSA. After that, the plaintiffs took the case to the 3rd Appellate Court in Sacramento, where the Superior Court judge’s decision was upheld.
Now, he said, Priority One would be free to operate in Butte County if a local hospital agreed to serve as a base station.
Byron Parsons, president and chief executive officer of First Responder, said he didn’t think Karras was correct about that.
Karras said he will apply to the Sierra-Sacramento EMSA for authority to operate in Butte County. Last year, Butte County, mainly to save money, dropped its contract with Northern California EMSA and signed a new contract with Sierra-Sacramento EMSA.
Karras said he would ask Sierra-Sacramento EMSA to require a hospital in Butte County to serve as Priority One’s base station.
If that request is denied, he said he would make the same request of the California Emergency Medical Services Authority, which oversees the statewide system of emergency medical care. Ultimately, he could take the base-station issue to court, although he wasn’t sure if he would do that, he added.
Parsons said the suit led the state Emergency Medical Services Authority to admit some of its guidelines were inconsistent. He said that agency is preparing revised guidelines concerning exclusive operating areas and the meaning of “grandfathered-in.”
Asked for a comment on the situation, Enloe Medical Center said in a brief statement that it “supports the county’s right to select the service providers that best meet the needs of the communities the county serves.” The statement added, “It’s too early at this point to identify the final outcome of this case.”
Priority One serves 13 areas in California, in both the northern and southern parts of the state.
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