Jessica Cejnar Andrews / Thursday, July 11 @ 4:02 p.m. / Emergencies, Health, Local Government
Del Norte Supervisors Move Forward With Competitive Bid Process For EMS Though Community Already Has An Ambulance Provider
Del Norte Ambulance would have to participate in the competitive bidding process despite already serving Del Norte. | Photo courtesy of Del Norte Ambulance
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Del Norte County supervisors on Tuesday authorized the use of public funds to ultimately seek an emergency medical services provider who would offer the same services Del Norte Ambulance currently provides.
The Board’s 3-2 vote comes about a year and a half after it had rejected Del Norte Ambulance’s request to be grandfathered into an exclusive operating agreement within the community. It allows the county to spend an amount not exceeding what’s in its emergency medical services fund — $243,000 as of the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey — to seek proposals from a consultant to administer the competitive bid process for an ambulance provider.
Supervisors Chris Howard and Dean Wilson dissented, saying they didn’t want to damage the county’s relationship with Del Norte Ambulance.
“Given the climate we find ourselves in California, I count ourselves fortunate that Del Norte County has a hospital that is functional … and an ambulance service that is functional, staffed and has good equipment,” Wilson said. “I can always find fault and complaint with any agency, any service and any provider from time to time. But as I find counties up and down our area that are struggling because their hospitals are closing and their ambulance is not functional, we have to be very cautious that we do not do damage to our own services.”
Howard and Wilson joined their colleagues in authorizing Health and Human Services Director Ranell Brown to choose three staff members to review proposals from potential consultants. Those staff members would work with North Coast Emergency Medical Services, the joint powers authority serving Del Norte, Humboldt and Lake counties.
The Board rejected a proposal that would have required the ambulance provider that secured an exclusive operating agreement in Del Norte to reimburse the county the cost of the competitive bid process.
District 1 Supervisor Darrin Short said it was common practice in other communities — a recent example he gave was in Napa County, which had six responsive bids to its RFP for a consultant. Short said he contacted all six of those firms. According to him, one said they didn’t include a reimbursement as part of their bid packet. Another company said they don’t include a reimbursement unless it’s requested.
Starkey pointed out that Napa County is different than Del Norte and has an opportunity to make more money.
“I don’t think that's necessarily fair for small operations to have to pay between $150,000 and $200,000 just to win the bid, just to pay to play,” she said. “It really puts Del Norte Ambulance at a huge disadvantage out of the gate, and that’s just something I’m not willing to do. I want them to put in for a bid for the RFP. I want them to compete with the other people in that process.”
According to Short’s Board report, the costs for the competitive bid process for an EMS provider range from $143,000 to $225,000. The report also cited North Coast EMS consultant Pam Mather who estimated the cost to be between $50,000 and $150,000.
According to Brown, court fines make up the bulk of the revenue source for the county’s emergency medical services fund. About 58 percent of those dollars go toward doctors and hospitals for providing indigent aid. Lately, Brown said, the county hasn’t been getting billed by doctors and hospitals, so the fund balance has added up.
“By statute I believe we’re only required to cover up to what our revenue is,” she said. “We don’t cover all of the expenses of the bills we could potentially receive.”
In March 2022, Del Norte Ambulance representatives had asked the Board of Supervisors to award them an exclusive operating agreement saying it could save the county money and ensure that emergency medical services stay local.
They asked supervisors to be grandfathered into the exclusive operating agreement, with General Manager John Pritchett pointing to California Health and Safety Code 1797.200. That code states communities can forego a competitive bidding process if an EMS service provider has been in continual operation since 1981.
“We think the best service is a local service,” Pritchett told the Wild Rivers Outpost in March 2022. “Folks who know where Elk Valley Road is as compared to Elk Valley Cross Road and folks who know the code for Sutter Coast Hospital.”
However, after local fire chiefs submitted a letter of opposition to the county in January 2023, the Board of Supervisors rejected Del Norte Ambulance’s request. The Board chose to seek competitive bids after the Del Norte Fire Chief’s Association criticized inconsistencies in Del Norte Ambulance’s service.
This included a lack of available ambulance coverage and extended estimated time of arrivals, according to the letter. The fire chiefs association “emphatically” recommended the Board forego granting an exclusive operating agreement to Del Norte Ambulance.
On Tuesday, in response to Howard, Short said he would have to ask all the fire departments again if things have improved.
“If they have I haven’t seen it,” Short said.
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