Ambulance Contract On Hold; Public Committee To Be Chosen

By a 3-2 split vote, the Van Zandt County Commissioners’ Court is bringing in members of the public onto the continuing saga of who will provide ambulance service in the unincorporated areas of the county.

East Texas Medical Center (ETMC) and Champion EMS are vying for an exclusive contract with the county. Although proposed contracts were submitted to the court earlier this month, no decision was made on Tuesday.

In front of a standing-room-only crowd in the Van Zandt County Courtroom on Tuesday, the court emerged from a brief closed session with Van Zandt County Judge Rhita Koches stating that, under legal advice, the court had no authority to accept funds from either ambulance service in conjunction with a contract.

The legal snafu led to a request to resubmit proposals. That was soon followed by Precinct 4 Commissioner Ron Carroll’s suggestion that members of the public be brought into the recommendation process.

"Each commissioner could appoint two people from their precinct in the unincorporated areas and let them get involved. I think that’s important because this is something that affects a lot of people," Carroll said.

He later added that ETMC, which already has a service contract with the city of Van, answers a majority of emergency calls in the area of Precinct 4 south of State Highway 64.

"We’ve got a service and everybody is happy with it," Carroll said.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Ricky LaPrade countered, "You’ve got to look at the county as a whole."

He and Precinct 3 Commissioner Duanne Harvey voted against the public committee idea and both raised the issue of ambulance placement in Edgewood.

"I’ll never go with anything that didn’t have one placed in Edgewood," Harvey said.

East Texas Medical Center EMS General Manager Ron Schwartz stated during discussion that he felt the proposals had been made and should be considered by the court.

"Otherwise, we’re kind of back to square one," he said.

Schwartz later said that while ambulance placement in the county is an important part of any proposal, so is a backup coverage plan.

"If you have an ambulance out transporting someone to a hospital, you have to have the ability to cover that area if another call comes in….almost like having a zone defense," he said.

LaPrade later confirmed his dissent to the public committee notion, saying, "We need to make a decision. I don’t think we need a committee on this and put this on other people’s backs."

Precinct 2 Commissioner Virgil Melton Jr. seconded — and voted for, along with Koches — Carroll’s motion to appoint a public committee. However, Melton Jr. expressed doubts that any clearer answer on either proposal would be reached.

"I don’t think this is going to get us further," he said. Motioning to the other commissioners, he added, "You’re going to appoint somebody who will advocate your point of view."

Koches asked the commissioners to make their appointments this week in order to have a recommendation to present back to the court on its next regular meeting on Nov. 10. She reiterated the county would like to have a contract in effect by Jan. 1, 2010.