UPDATE: Augusta votes down EMS partnership for ambulance zone, again

Miguel Legoas, Augusta Chronicle
·3 min read

Augusta Commissioner Jordan Johnson on Thursday left a special-called meeting to discuss a contract for ambulance services feeling disappointed.

Commissioners failed to approve a potential partner in a bid to provide ambulance services for a state-controlled zone that includes Augusta.

“We pay our staff to do this work … and they came back with what we asked them for, an affordable contract with a qualified company," he said. "And at the end of the day the other commissioners didn’t even want to talk about what our staff presented."

Clock is Ticking:Augusta to finalize EMS proposal Thursday to reclaim zone

Current EMS Deal:Augusta finalizes temporary deal with Gold Cross. Here are the terms

In a familiar move from two weeks ago, Augusta’s leadership voted against a contract with AmeriPro EMS that was drafted and recommended by the city’s procurement department.

The motion had a 5-5 vote, which was broken by Mayor Garnett Johnson voting against the deal. Johnson said the amount of money to be paid to AmeriPro was too much for an outside vendor.

The proposed contract would have payed AmeriPro, which is based out of Atlanta, a monthly subsidy of $180,000, about $2.16 million annually, while the failed Gold Cross contract offered them an immediate payment of $1.95 million and an annual subsidy of $1.75 million.

If commissioners had approved the contract, AmeriPro would have given Augusta the following:

  • Eight new ambulances dedicated 24/7 to Augusta-Richmond County’s 911 system.

  • Two additional new ambulances dedicated 12 hours a day to provide services during peak hours.

  • Three quick response vehicles to support the 911 system.

  • A paramedic shift supervisor available 24/7 for all 911 requests and operations.

  • An operations manager.

  • The company's FirstNet communications devices as a secondary means of communication as well as all communications equipment necessary to support services.

The contract contained similar measures to the failed one for Gold Cross, including language that ensured accountability for AmeriPro's response times.

The most outspoken opponent was Commissioner Wayne Guilfoyle, who believed AmeriPro was not able to handle a population the size of Augusta's. Guilfoyle also made a substitute motion to extend their contract with Gold Cross, with whom they have a month-to-month agreement, to one year under their current terms. City Attorney Wayne Brown strongly advised against this, believing it would endanger Augusta with a lawsuit and it could create complications if Augusta was not awarded the zone.

Guilfoyle eventually pulled the motion, but it was made again after the AmeriPro contract failed. The Gold Cross extension also failed.

“You win some, you lose some,” said AmeriPro’s Chief Business Officer Larry Richardson of the vote. To Guilfoyle’s initial comment, he replied that they would have been capable of handling Augusta’s issues as they provide services to more than 2 million people in Jacksonville, Florida. Richardson also expressed no interest in suing Augusta, saying, "There's enough business out there."

This leaves the city without a partnering EMS vendor for their zone application, which is due 5 p.m. Friday. Commissioners will meet again at 11 a.m. Friday to discuss their options. It will be streamed on Augusta's Facebook page and YouTube channel.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta Commission denies AmeriPro EMS contract for zone provider