Amite County’s ambulance service provider has notified officials it will ask for a subsidy for fuel costs, Emergency Management Director Sam Walsh told the board of supervisors Wednesday.
The decision does not mean American Medical Response (AMR) has pulled out of its current contract, but a renegotiated contract likely will need to be signed by July, Walsh said.
The current contract, approved in January, is $2,100 annually with a 30-day opt out clause for either side. It keeps a single ambulance on hand at all times but does not include a fuel subsidy.
AMR negotiated that contract with the county when the previous ambulance service, Emergystat, disbanded, suddenly leaving the county without an ambulance service and officials without call volume data to allow for accurate cost projections.
A figure has not been set for a new contract, but it could jump to as much as $200,000 annually, Walsh said.
That figure is based on run totals and data AMR said it would re-examine, Walsh said.
The county has had difficulty finding an alternative to paying the subsidy.
A letter dated June 3 from AAA ambulance service, which covers Pike County, declined to bid on providing service for Amite County. AAA bid on the county service earlier this year when Emergystat went bankrupt and left a vacancy, but did not specify a reason in its more recent letter for declining to bid again. Amite County officials had asked AAA for an updated figure to compare with AMR’s request.
Walsh said he thought Hattiesburg-based AAA didn’t want to expand too far.
“You want to stay where we are or you want another ambulance service,” Walsh said, “But the days of not paying a subsidy are over.”
If the county signs a contract including subsidies, the deal would be good for one year and would not require an immediate lump sum payment to AMR, Walsh added.
No board action was taken Wednesday.
