By Nick McConnell
The Reporter
SOLANO COUNTY, Calif. — The Solano County Board of Supervisors voted earlier this week to begin the process of dissolving the Solano Emergency Medical Services Cooperative, which controls EMS services across most of the county. The board unanimously passed a motion to direct staff to return to a future meeting with an amendment that would bring EMS back under the control of the Solano County Health and Social Services Department and the Board of Supervisors.
Established in 1996 through a Joint Powers Authority, the Solano Emergency Medical Services Cooperative covers the cities of Dixon, Benicia, Fairfield, Rio Vista, Suisun, Vallejo and multiple fire districts across the unincorporated area. The JPA manages property and assets, accepts funding, enters contracts, and critically, provides all pre-hospital care in those areas. Solano County Emergency Medical Services Administrator Benjamin Gammon presented the item to the board.
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“Pre-hospital care is anything from 911 to your care at the hospital,” Gammon said.
The system covers 5 hospitals with two trauma centers. Gammon explained. SEMSC board tracks data for those hospitals, including EMS application metrics, General EMS system data, specialty care program data and other metrics.
Medic Ambulance does not cover the Vacaville Fire-Ambulance Area, which includes the Vacaville Fire Protection District and is controlled by the city via section 201 rights. Section 201 rights allow cities and fire districts that were providing ambulance transport before 1980 to continue to operate in that area. A Public-Private Partnership with Medic Ambulance covers most of the cities in the county.
The board was given the options to maintain the status quo, revoke the LEMSA designation and assume that as the county, or terminate the organization and overtake all of its responsibilities.
Supervisor Wanda Williams expressed concern about the board making this decision while a Request For Proposals for a new EMS contract has already been released. Williams also said she received a letter from an attorney alleging that clawing back this authority might not be legal for the county.
“I need more information on this law, what it means and how it is actually applied,” she said.
Williams said she does not want the cities to have the impression that the county will “claw back” authority any time that they make a decision the county government does not like.
“It continues to send a message to our cities that we are not operating in good faith with them...” she said. “And this is not the first time that our cities are saying they feel we are not operating in good faith.”
Supervisor John Vasquez said that the decision was originally made in 1996 when the Supervisors were part-time and did not want to add another committee meeting to their schedules. He argued it is time for the board to resume its authority. Chair of the Board Mitch Mashburn concurred with Vasquez.
“I personally do not think that we should be delegating our authority, passing the buck,” Mashburn said.
James Pierson, COO and President of Medic Ambulance, expressed frustration about how the item was presented in writing to the board.
“I felt the way that Medic was represented in that was not accurate,” he said.
Pierson noted that last year, state-level officials determined there is no conflict of interest in the SEMSC. He said the process has been fair and transparent and that the county is stepping in too soon.
“I’m worried that we are getting bad legal guidance right now, and that the entire RFP process will be blown up,” he said.
Andrew Schouten, an attorney working for the city of Fairfield, spoke during the meeting as well, arguing that the move disrupts the current procurement process and upsets the process as it should be.
“Bidders have already submitted bids, and there is no way to know what it is going to look like,” he said.
County Counsel Bernadette Curry agreed that a conversation would be required regarding the RFP, but that this decision is focused on local oversight. Curry said in 2019, concerns were raised about a fire chief voting on PPP contracts regarding their department’s operations. The FPPC decided that the situation did not create a conflict of interest because the contract in question was with a third party, not the SEMSC.
However, Curry said, a potential conflict of interest issue has since arisen in Fairfield. She said state law would still require medical staff to make medical decisions, and that the board will handle contracts only. County staff indicated that City Managers have previously recused themselves when even a potential conflict of interest could have been perceived.
“All this board would be doing is approving contracts,” Curry said.
Gammon told The Reporter that patient care will not be disturbed and that day-to-day 911 operations will remain intact. He said the SEMSC will continue to maintain a high level of service for the community regardless of which government body it answers to.
“We’re still going to give that level of care for the Solano Community,” he said.
SEMSC is outside of the board of supervisors and was created as a JPA in 1996 to handle all EMS and hospital contracts, as well as the LEMSA. On Tuesday, he said, the vote initiated the process, but the issue will be brought back to the board before the process is complete.
“The SEMSC is still a JPA,” he said.
Gammon said the board is determined not to jeopardize the Request for Proposals process, but recognizes that these contracts have big implications for the communities they serve.
“I see possibly that the Board of Supervisors maybe wants to be more involved with a major decision like that.”
Gammon said that the Office of Solano County Counsel raised the concerns of potential conflicts of interest, and that the counsel’s office controls the next steps of potentially dissolving the JPA.
“I don’t see any conflict,” he said. “We created the JPA as much as we can without conflict.”
Ultimately, he said, the board’s decision Tuesday will not halt the RFP process and will not change service as it currently exists for Solano County residents.
“The care you get when you dial 911, that will all stay at the highest level,” he said.
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