AMR among companies competing for new DeKalb ambulance contract

Authorities arrested a man accused of stealing an ambulance and leading them on a chase.

Authorities arrested a man accused of stealing an ambulance and leading them on a chase.

The ambulance provider that faced complaints about poor service in DeKalb County has submitted a proposal to continue serving residents there.

American Medical Response will compete against PatientCare Logistics Solutions and Grady EMS for the county’s ambulance service provider contract. The company that wins stands to make millions of dollars in fees collected from residents who dial 911 and need to be taken to a hospital.

AMR has had the job since 2013, but faced complaints about lagging response times and employee misconduct. To keep the city of Dunwoody from pulling out of the countywide agreement, AMR agreed to new standards of service.

DeKalb extended its contract with AMR through at least June, changing the fee schedule to allow the company to make more money. That extension allowed the county additional time to put the contract out to bid.

Related | DeKalb, Dunwoody work out deal for faster ambulance service

An evaluation committee is in the process of reviewing all three proposals.

Grady EMS currently handles emergency ambulance services the city of Atlanta and south Fulton County, as well as 16 other Georgia counties. PatientCare is based in Tyler, Texas, and has contracts for ambulance services across the nation but none in Georgia.

AMR, a company based in Greenwood Village, Colo., has a presence in 39 states including Georgia, according to its website.