By EMS1 Staff
KERN COUNTY, Calif. — An ambulance “monopoly” dispute was put to rest after a judge decided that the ambulance company choosing process needs to change.
Bakersfield Now reported that Kern County has been in a dispute over whether or not three ambulance companies in the county should be legally allowed to have monopolies.
Hall Ambulance, Liberty Ambulance and Delano Ambulance have control of all 10 zones in Kern County due to exclusive contracts that prohibit other companies from working in the regions.
Monopolies are legal in the state of California as long as certain rules are followed, but the interpretation of those rules differed between the state and the county.
In order to settle the dispute, a judge ruled that the way business is conducted with ambulances in the county needs to change in three zones, where Hall Ambulance and Liberty Ambulance handle emergency services.
The California Emergency Medical Services Authority agreed with the judge, deeming that the ambulance companies have illegal monopolies and the three regions need to have either more than one ambulance service, or a competitive bidding process.