Chester Gillan, Minister of Health today announced that Emergency Medical Care Inc. (EMC) has been selected as the preferred bidder for the new province-wide ground ambulance system. The Department of Health will immediately be commencing negotiations to secure a contract for services effective April 1, 2006.
Minister Gillan said, “The next phase of the process is for the province to negotiate the detailed contract for ambulance services with EMC. Therefore, this arrangement is not finalized until detailed negotiations are concluded. We want to ensure that the needs of Islanders will be met and we get the best value for ambulance services.”
The company plans to incorporate as a PEI company called “Island EMS.” Emergency Medical Care Inc. manages the ambulance services in Nova Scotia on behalf of Emergency Medical Services, a division of the Nova Scotia Department of Health. The company’s bid proposal included the potential to purchase existing assets of current Island ambulance providers, including vehicles of existing Island ambulance operators. They also propose to recruit existing Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), management and other staff supports.
Proposals were received from three bidders including Neil’s Ambulance, Emergency Medical Care Inc., and EMS - PEI, a partnership company made up of Rooney’s, Royal and Kings County EMS Service operators.
A Bid Assessment Committee was appointed by the Minister to review the proposals received and made a recommendation to Government based on a set of established criteria which reflected industry standards. The Committee assessed aspects of each proposal such as transition issues, quality of service, financial and human resource issues.
Minister Gillan noted, “The successful bidder has to prove that they can provide a service that will maintain a high quality of patient care for Island residents while ensuring rapid response time. Island EMS must also be prepared to provide seamless and integrated service, service which is not restricted by municipal boundaries and is integrated with other emergency responders, such as police and fire services.”
The Request for Proposal process notes that, if a written agreement cannot be negotiated within sixty days of notification of the preferred bidder, the Department of Health reserves the right to cease negotiations with that vendor and initiate negotiations with the next highest scoring vendor, to re-tender, or to cancel the project in its entirety.