Fed-up DeKalb County commissioners voted Tuesday to again extend the county’s contract with its much-criticized ambulance provider, bringing the lifespan of the contract extension to a full year.
American Medical Response has provided emergency transport services for DeKalb since 2013. Late last year, commissioners voted to extend the contract for six months, and the county launched a search for a new provider. AMR has faced complaints over slow response times to emergency situations.
But the procurement process has lagged due to undisclosed legal issues.
Commissioners voted in June to extend the AMR contract for three months, until the end of September. They voted Tuesday morning to extend it for three more months, until Dec. 30, but not before several commissioners voiced their discontent with the process.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
“It just seems like it’s gone on forever,” District 1 Commissioner Nancy Jester said. “No one’s happy about this extension.”
District 6 Commissioner Kathie Gannon said she was voting to approve the extension “under duress.”
Lorraine Cochran-Johnson, the District 7 commissioner, previously said the county is in a "precarious situation." Because a future provider has not been selected, she said, the county would be left without an ambulance service if it did not extend the AMR contract Tuesday.
The measure passed 6-1, with Jester being the only commissioner voting no.
» RELATED: DeKalb has violated ambulance contract, city of Dunwoody declares
AMR was one of three companies that submitted a proposal for the future contract, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. An evaluation committee was tasked with reviewing the proposals.
County Attorney Viviane Ernstes told the commission that the procurement process has been delayed because of legal issues that popped up in the last month and a half. She did not elaborate. She said the county would select its future ambulance provider by the end of the year, but could not provide a more specific estimate on timing.
AMR said it values its relationship with DeKalb and has made “great progress.”
“We have remained committed to working with county and local fire, police and other officials to deliver a world-class EMS system for the residents of DeKalb County,” Terence Ramotar, the regional director for AMR Georgia, said in a statement last week.
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