City officials hold private meeting about proposed city ambulance service, possible investment
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade and Fire Chief Randy Royal met with philanthropic leaders Monday to discuss a proposed city-run ambulance service and the possibility for potential investment money.
KRDO13 Investigates has extensively reported about the city’s current ambulance provider, American Medical Response, failing to meet its contractual requirements. The contract states AMR must arrive on time to emergency calls 90% of the time. KRDO13 Investigates obtained data that shows AMR arrived late to calls throughout 2022. Because of those late arrivals, AMR had to pay more than $3.4 million in damages to the city.
“It's concerning,” said Colorado Springs City Councilwoman Nancy Henjum. “I think having a reliable emergency response is something that's of utmost importance to every single resident of Colorado Springs.”
Due to these contractual violations, the city could have ended its contract with AMR in 2023, but it didn’t. Now a year later, it’s exploring other options. The city is considering taking over EMS services when its contract with AMR ends in April 2025.
KRDO13 Investigates previously reported it was unclear how much the Colorado Springs City Council knew about this proposal, as they would have to approve it. On Monday, council members said they were briefed about the proposed plan last month.
“We have to do our due diligence on the numbers financially,” Henjum said. “Is it feasible without putting the city of Colorado Springs at risk? That is still in process.”
Henjum said the proposal of a city-run ambulance service would not be an additional cost for taxpayers because it would be paid for with fees for patients who use an ambulance. However, there could be an initial start-up cost, she said, which is why Mobolade and Royal held a meeting with philanthropic leaders Monday.
Last week, Jane Mead, the event manager for the El Pomar Foundation, which hosted the meeting, told KRDO13 Investigates the meeting was invite only for CEOs and presidents of local companies. KRDO13 Investigates tried to RSVP for this meeting, but we were told by a city spokesperson it was private and we could not attend.
On Monday, a fire department spokesperson said the meeting was with philanthropic leaders to discuss the proposal and possible investment. Council members Dave Donelson and Henjum said they were not told about this private meeting.
“I wasn't notified, ‘Hey, this meeting is going to happen,’” Henjum said. “But do you know how many meetings happen in this city between the mayor and the fire chief and other people that I never know about?”
Henjum said she wasn’t worried about the private meeting, because these stakeholder meetings are normal for enterprise service proposals and it's the city doing their due diligence.
“The more smart people who are concerned about our community who can be engaged and take a good look at this the better,” Henjum said. “The public will have its chance when we are ready to bring this to a work session.”
The fire department said a proposed ordinance will be brought before the city council in the coming weeks or months. Mobolade and Royal declined an interview about this proposal but provided a statement:
“In anticipation of our contract with American Medical Response (AMR) ending in April 2025, the Colorado Springs Fire Department is continuing to explore the opportunity to provide ambulance transport services for the City of Colorado Springs. Today we met with our local philanthropic community as part of our due diligence as this project moves forward. The CSFD is continuing preparations in hopes of bringing an ordinance for consideration to the City Council in the coming weeks or months to establish a City enterprise. As said in the past, part of this exploration is conducting due diligence to ensure that this would reduce costs to residents, provide improved services and deliver innovative and state-of-the-art care.”
- Randy Royal
