Colorado Springs City Council votes against city-run ambulance service

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The City of Colorado Springs will keep its contract with American Medical Response (AMR). That’s after city council members voted 5-4 against the proposal to switch to a city-run service this afternoon.

Today’s vote comes after months of talks when the Colorado Springs Fire Department and Mayor proposed putting the fire department head of ambulance services.

Last month, Colorado Springs Fire Chief, Randy Royal, and Mayor Yemi Mobolade proposed ending a decades-long contract with AMR. The two felt putting the fire department in charge of ambulance services was a better route to go due to in part to AMR’s response times to emergency calls.

"Extremely disappointed. The fire department, along with the city, has worked so hard for many years. We've been doing the same thing over and over for two decades, and it was time for a change," Councilwoman Yolanda Avila said.

"It was not about the quality of service that the fire department could provide, but about the financial risks that might be associated with it," City Council Brian Risley said.

The city-run EMS would have been an enterprise, meaning costs wouldn't go to taxpayers but the city would have had to find ways to fund the more than $11 million startup cost.

The fire department said the big push for the change was to improve response times, saying they are faster than AMR.

Colorado Springs Fire Chief Royal posted a statement on social media saying in part, "I am incredibly disappointed to say the Colorado Springs City Council voted against the proposal for an ambulance transport enterprise. This proposal would have been a historic step for our community and would have been the best possible outcome for our community."

Due to a no vote today, the topic will not go for a final hearing at the end of the month.

AMR’s contract with the City of Colorado Springs will end in April of next year.