Countywide : Contracts Issued for Ambulance Services

Five ambulance companies were awarded contracts Tuesday to serve different unincorporated areas of Orange County.

In awarding the contracts, the Board of Supervisors also voted to allow companies to discuss their bids in person. That action came in response to complaints from ambulance operators that they did not get a chance to personally present their case to the five-person panel that made recommendations to the supervisors.

“In general, all of the ambulance providers expressed frustration,” County Administrative Officer Larry Parrish said in a letter to the supervisors. “Disappointment and anger more clearly describe the collective attitude toward its results.”

Because of complaints, the board on Dec. 3 postponed the awarding of contracts for a week to let Parrish review the process.

The supervisors on Tuesday awarded the contracts to the companies the panel had recommended, but they stressed that they were unhappy that the panel did not offer them a chance to speak. Instead, the panel weighed written proposals.

Supervisor Bruce Nestande said bidders should be allowed to “exhaust the conversations” in presenting their case.

Larry Seal, vice president of Costa Mesa-based Seal’s Ambulance Service, which won a contract, said the contracts set the maximum basic charge at $96 a call and $6 a mile, which the companies collect from the patients.

Under a change in the contracts, the county no longer will pay part of the fee for dry runs, when ambulance operators arrive at sites and find that their services are not required.

The other four companies are Doctor’s Ambulance Service, Morgan Ambulance Service, Medix Ambulance Service and Southland Ambulance Service.