San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
NEW AMBULANCE SERVICE TO FOCUS ON STAFFING, TIME
S.D. selected Falck as provider; contract still needs to be set
A Dutch company San Diego recently selected to take over its ambulance service is promising city residents better staffing, improved response times and more innovation.
The city’s efforts to find a new ambulance provider come after years of complaints about service levels and response times, particularly in more ethnically diverse areas south of state Route 94.
Falck, the Dutch company, won’t officially replace incumbent ambulance service provider American Medical Response until city officials successfully negotiate a comprehensive contract with Falck.
But Falck officials said last week they are confident a deal will be reached and that they will become the city’s first new ambulance provider in 23 years, later this year or early next year.
A city selection panel this summer graded the staffing plan proposed by Falck higher than the staffing plan proposed by American Medical Response by a score of 140 to 127.75.
Details of the company’s plan can’t be revealed yet because negotiations with the city are ongoing, said Troy Hagen, the chief commercial officer for Falck USA, the global company’s American subsidiary.
Hagen said the company prioritized response times and staffing levels of paramedics and emergency medical technicians in its proposal.
“Because the staffing plan is one of the most important elements of Falck’s service, there was a large emphasis on building this right,” he said. “Falck made sure to invest in putting the right number of ambulances in the system ready to respond, rather than save on those costs and pay penalties.”
Hagen also said Falck’s experience providing ambulance service around the world makes it capable of innovation and creative problem solving.
“Things change, so you have to be flexible,” Hagen said.
Negotiations with the city are expected to begin in the next few weeks and possibly conclude in late October, Hagen said.
“We know there are several steps left, but we are cautiously optimistic,” he said.
“It’s been a good, fair and transparent process, so I don’t know why it wouldn’t go through.”
AMR, the incumbent provider, disagrees. AMR filed a protest in late August contending there was a conflict of interest on the city’s selection committee.
The son of one committee member was fired by AMR several years ago, the company said. San Diego Fire-rescue Department Chief Colin Stowell declined to comment on the protest or the staffing proposals.
“The specifics of each proposal will remain confidential until after negotiations are complete on a potential contract,” Stowell said by email. “After that, the specific details including staffing models will be released.”
Shortly after AMR filed its protest, a city spokeswoman said city officials would review the protest and issue a written decision prior to awarding a contract.
This is the second time AMR has protested the city’s selection process. When San Diego initially announced it had selected Falck over AMR last December, AMR filed a protest that prompted the city to restart the process.
Last month, the city again chose Falck. The company’s overall score in the request for proposals competition was 96.90, compared to 95.40 for AMR.
Falck outscored AMR on staffing plans, responsiveness to the city’s request and interviews. AMR outscored Falck on capability and expertise.
AMR said in an emailed statement Friday that the company is “extremely proud of its record in San Diego,” and noted how close the scoring was.
“In the scoring of our overall proposals, it was a virtual tie between AMR and Falck,” the statement said. “Had the city not allowed on the selection committee a member who had a glaring conflict of interest, we are confident our proposal would have received a higher score than Falck’s.”
AMR also said Falck has a history of “overpromising and underdelivering.”
While AMR has met all city-mandated response time goals since 2017, weak response times have been a hot topic in recent years, especially in the city’s southern neighborhoods.
Three years ago, AMR and San Diego officials softened a key standard for emergency response designed to ensure equitable ambulance service across neighborhoods.
A new ambulance contract could be an opportunity to revive that standard, which divided the city into eight service zones and demanded the ambulance provider meet response time goals in each zone.
The standard was softened to four zones in 2017, despite complaints from leaders in neighborhoods south of state Route 94.
Because the zones are now twice as big, there is greater potential for a provider to give subpar service to some neighborhoods and still meet the response-time goals by posting stellar times elsewhere in that zone.
david.garrick @sduniontribune.com