By John Sowell
The Idaho Statesman
BOISE, Idaho — A private, Boise-based ambulance service has filed suit, claiming that Canyon County and the Canyon County Ambulance District illegally quashed its contract to transfer patients between the two county campuses of Saint Alphonsus Medical Center.
The filing in U.S. District Court in Boise by Injury Care Emergency Medical Services seeks a declaration that the actions by the county and the ambulance district violate the Idaho Constitution and state law. It also seeks damages to be proven at trial.
In early 2014, Injury Care began transporting patients for Saint Al’s. A few days later, the ambulance district sent the hospital a cease-and-desist notice, ordering it to terminate the service. The Feb. 24, 2014, letter from Robb Hickey, the district’s director, notified the hospital that the contract violated the county’s ambulance ordinance and would cost the district, which operates Canyon County Paramedics, money.
The hospital complied with the order and Injury Care has been unable since to transport patients within Canyon County. According to court documents, Saint Alphonsus pays more for transports through Canyon County Paramedics than it did through Injury Care EMS.
Injury Care EMS, headed by Dr. Richard Radnovich, a Boise sports care specialist, has provided similar transports within Ada County for St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center since 2010 and for Saint Al’s since last year. Since 2010, it has provided inter-county service to and from West Valley Medical Center in Caldwell.
“I don’t understand the county’s interest in preventing us from carrying out a private business agreement,” Radnovich said.
Joe Decker, the spokesman for Canyon County, which created the ambulance district in 1979 and oversees its operation, declined comment, citing pending litigation.
Under the county ordinance, revised in 2003, any ambulance provider other than Canyon County Paramedics needs permission to transport patients within the county.
In the court filing by Boise attorney Howard Belodoff, Injury Care EMS argues that violates Idaho law by restricting or limiting potential competition from private ambulance services solely to preserve the market position of the ambulance district’s ambulance service.
Radnovich met three times last year with Canyon County commissioners in an attempt to obtain permission for his company to provide non-911 ambulance transports within the county.
“The board does not believe that the delegation of any or all transportation and transfers to a private corporate entity is in the best interests of the public health and safety of its citizenry nor does it reflect the wishes of the constituents of the district who already pay a significant levy to pay for such services,” commissioners wrote in a letter dated Aug. 15.
The final denial came in December.
Radnovich said two other ambulance companies previously provided similar service in Canyon County without authorization from the county. He said Air St. Luke’s uses ground ambulances to transport patients between its facilities in Canyon and Ada counties.
Saint Al’s said it’s still interested in having Injury Care EMS handle its transports between facilities.
“It is my hope that we can use your service in the future to with our needs and to reduce overall costs to our facility and patients,” according to a March 25, 2014, letter from Clint Child, vice president of patient care services.
©2015 The Idaho Statesman (Boise, Idaho)