Richmond Ambulance Authority Awards 5-Year Contract toAmerican Medical Response.

Business and Health Editors

AURORA, Colo.--(BW HealthWire)--Feb. 11, 2000

On Feb. 4, 2000, the Richmond (Virginia) Ambulance Authority unanimously approved awarding a five-year contract for emergency and non-emergency medical services to American Medical Response (AMR).

AMR and predecessor companies (Mercy/MedTrans) have provided medical transportation service to the Richmond-Petersburg area since. The company employs 180 persons, operates a fleet of 26 Advanced Life Support ambulances and provides over 42,000 transports per year.

The new contract contains stringent performance requirements - on emergency calls, ambulances must arrive at the scene in 8 minutes, 59 seconds at least 90% of the time. Fines can be assessed if this requirement is not met. Additionally, the contract requires that all areas of the community are served equitably and that quality of service and response time cannot significantly vary from one neighborhood to another.

AMR works the Richmond Ambulance Authority to create industry-leading cultural diversity initiatives and cutting-edge clinical practices. The Richmond system is the first in the U.S. to provide pre-hospital administration of Amiodarone to cardiac arrest patients suffering from refractory ventricular fibrillation. AMR Richmond is one of a select group of ambulance services meeting the stringent accreditation processes of the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services.

Unique to the AMR response to the Authority's Request for Proposal are potential services available through American Medical Pathways. These elements include everything from call management processes and software to nurse triage to modern medical house calls to providing a non-emergency medical transport network for the City and surrounding areas.

Paul Anderson, VP of Operations for AMR/Richmond, noted: &uot;The goal of this approach is to provide a fully customized access management program that complements and enhances current and future healthcare services for the City of Richmond. Our proposal ensures that local leaders and medical experts have active input and oversight of the system that is ultimately implemented.&uot;

The five-year contract between AMR and the Richmond Ambulance Authority, with its potential two one-year extensions, is estimated to be worth over $50 million.

American Medical Response is the nation's largest provider of medical transportation, operating in 35 states with over 20,000 employees. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Laidlaw Inc. AMR is headquartered in Aurora, Colo.