KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — After meeting with Kaufman County officials Thursday morning, East Texas Medical Center (ETMC) Emergency Medical Services (EMS) announced they would be opting out of their ambulatory service contract with the county, a contract they have serviced since 1995.
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — After meeting with Kaufman County officials Thursday morning, East Texas Medical Center (ETMC) Emergency Medical Services (EMS) announced they would be opting out of their ambulatory service contract with the county, a contract they have serviced since 1995.
Not only will ETMC withdraw from the county agreement, which includes the city of Forney, but ETMC officials also notified Terrell and Kaufman, which have separate contracts, of the withdrawal.
The announcement comes just days after ETMC notified municipalities in Ellis County they would also be pulling out of their ambulatory service contract and would assist in reassigning the contract to CareFlite until its expiration.
“For many years, ETMC has been able to provide ambulance service in many communities for free or for a small fee, but with the changes in reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance we could no longer afford to provide this service,” ETMC EMS General Manager Neal Franklin told inForney.com in a statement.
As with Ellis County, CareFlite is expected to be reassigned the ETMC contract with Kaufman County through the end of the year pending commissioners’ court approval. A new contract would be sent out for bids and approval in January 2016.
Although an exact date is unknown, services are expected to transition from ETMC to CareFlite, if approved, as early as March 1, 2015, or by a date no later than April 1, 2015.
CareFlite will take over the existing ETMC fleet and also attempt to retain all current ETMC employees, according to President and Chief Executive Officer James Swartz speaking with inForney.com. “Typically you lose very few employees on these types of transitions.”
Swartz also said their would be no disruption of service during the transitional period adding, “CareFlite is well recognized, highly sophisticated, and a great employer.”
“It is important for all of our residents to know that we will not be without an EMS provider,” stated Kaufman County Emergency Management Coordinator Steve Howie in a release Thursday afternoon. “Until such time as this is approved and becomes effective, ETMC EMS will still be our EMS provider and there will be no change in service.”
Kaufman Fire Department Chief Eddie Brown said they only just spoke with ETMC officials Thursday afternoon and was unable to say if Kaufman’s contract would be reassigned to CareFlite or another provider pending further discussions with CareFlite and city officials.
Any changes in Terrell and Kaufman are subject to city council approval.
CareFlite is expected to meet with county, Terrell, and Kaufman officials next week to discuss the terms of the transition.
Forney, covered under the existing Kaufman County agreement, is expected to stay within the same contractual agreement and transition to CareFlite. City of Forney Public Information Officer Kyle Rouvaldt reiterated there would be no disruption of service during the transition period. A release from the city is also expected later today.
Attempts to reach city of Terrell officials were unsuccessful due to an ongoing meeting. This story will be updated with any statements from the city of Terrell as they become available.
