By Mike Finney

DOVER — Sometimes it is better to take a step back and look some things over before opting to take a big leap.

That is exactly what the city of Dover’s Legislative, Finance and Administrative Committee decided to do when it came to awarding a new ambulance service contract to Ambulnz at the Council of the Whole Meeting on Tuesday night.

They voted to table any decision on a new ambulance provider until further information is gathered. The committee will be scheduling a special meeting to revisit the issue.

The greatest concern among the committee appeared to be the disparity in the offers between staff-recommended Ambulnz and other bidders that included current provider St. Francis, as well as Gem and Volunteer Medical Service Corp.

The bid for ambulance service from Ambulnz was $600,000 for its first year with 5% escalators in years two ($630,000) and three ($661,500) of their proposal.

That was $600,000 less than the second cheapest proposal, which was for $1.2 million for the first year of service by Volunteer Medical Service Corp.

“What it really boils down to is fiscal responsibility,” said Kay Sass, Dover’s public affairs and emergency management coordinator. “As we all know, this is a very tight fiscal year for us and we’re facing a multi-million-dollar deficit currently that we’re trying to hone in on and close that up, so that was a great consideration.

“If you see the cost comparisons, that’s really where this comes into play. Due to the largest point being fiscal responsibility, Ambulnz was the staff recommendation.”

Councilman Gerald Rocha made the motion to table the issue. It was seconded by Councilwoman Julia Pillsbury.

Councilman Rocha indicated he had read online that Ambulnz had terminated a contract with another city with just 30 days' notice. That, along with the disparity in bids, raised a red flag to him.

“Based on what I’ve read as far as the termination of contract and the fact that they’ve come in significantly lower than the other bids, I just have a concern about it,” he said. “I made a motion to table this until we get more information and take a second look at the recommendation, just so that our due diligence shows that we are protecting ourselves.”

St. Francis has been the ambulance provider for Dover for the past five years to cover transports for emergencies in the city.

The contract was for $100,000 a year and the city had been very satisfied with their performance, Ms. Sass said.

However, at the end of August 2023 the city received notification to terminate the contract because the cost of services and the city’s contractual amount of $100,000 did not allow St. Francis to cover its expenses and it could no longer absorb the difference.

Ms. Sass said the four responses from the prospective ambulance providers were similarly structured, but Ambulnz stood out with its lower price.

The ambulance service contract will be dedicating five Type 1 ambulances to the city, running three full-time while having two on standby, and the preference would be given to having emergency medical technicians with city of Dover experience already specifically listed.

“Probably the highest priority to everyone I spoke to on council and staff was the level of service,” said Ms. Sass. “We wanted to make sure we were able to maintain the three full-time ambulances with two EMTs.

“All four (responses) are similarly structured, having the ops manager to oversee and shift supervisors, which was something we see really worked when St. Francis took over the previous contract. Two out of the four supplied requested references. Those all had outstanding responses to the services provided.”

One of them was Ambulnz.

Still, those doubts crept in regarding the contract disparity as well as rumors regarding unfulfilled service.

Ms. Pillsbury saw the issues as potential red flags.

“I think there’s an issue when you have one contractor that’s 50% of the price of the other three and we have questions for information that we were able to gather from the internet about their credibility and their ability to support the city,” she said. “We don’t want to sign the contract with the lowest bidder and then get poor service.”

Councilwoman Tricia Arndt agreed.

“This just seems like a big ‘if’ with no data to back it up,” she said. “It’s bit of a leap of faith, like, ‘Hey, that could work out great for you,’ or maybe it won’t.”

No matter who gets the nod to provide ambulance service to Dover, Councilman Fred Neil said time is an important factor, considering a new contract is set to start July 1 with a three-year contract and an option for a one-time two-year extension prior to putting it out to rebid.

“A word of caution - time is of the essence,” he said. “We are on a tight time schedule. The caution is we have to move fast on this and not delay because the whole system could fall apart and cost us a lot more money if it goes beyond July 1.”

Staff writer Mike Finney can be reached at 302-741-8230 or mfinney@iniusa.org.
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