Jackson eyes return to city ambulance service

Jackson may return to providing its own ambulance service after nearly 25 years.

Mayor Tony Yarber said the city resuming ambulance service is something Fire Chief R.D. Simpson is advocating.

“We are considering it,” Yarber said. “It’s something we would love to discuss further.”

Asked Thursday for the rationale behind the city considering resuming ambulance service, Yarber’s spokeswoman, said Shelia Byrd, said, “Faster response time because we have fire stations strategically located throughout Jackson.”

However, no one with the city could offer up examples of late response times.

Ambulance service was privatized in 1991 when Hinds County signed a contract with Mobile Medic Ambulance Service, which later became American Medical Response, for countywide ambulance service, AMR spokesman Jim Pollard said.

“Our contract with the Hinds County Board of Supervisors requires that an AMR ambulance reach at least 85 percent of 911 scenes in Jackson within eight minutes of our receiving the information needed to respond,” Pollard said.

Pollard said AMR is meeting their contractual obligations.

Pollard said Jackson signed an interlocal agreement with Hinds County in 1990, giving the county control of providing ambulance service. Jackson doesn’t pay any fees directly to AMR.

AMR’s original contract with Hinds County called for the county to pay $119,000 a year to the ambulance service. The amount was subsequently reduced to $100,000. Last year, the Hinds County Board of Supervisors asked various groups with county contracts to reduce them by 20 percent, according to Pollard, and AMR reduced its contract by $20,000, meaning the county now pays $80,000 a year.

Pollard said the county qualifies for state grant money for emergency services by providing ambulance service.

“We haven’t heard any complaint about ambulance service in a long time,” Pollard said.

Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes urged the city to get back into the ambulance business. He complained about the time it takes AMR to transport an injured person from a scene.

Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon said “amen” to the city looking at returning to its own ambulance service.

Pollard said AMR hasn’t heard from any city officials about any dissatisfaction with the ambulance service, whose local headquarters is at the Jackson Medical Mall.

The city provided its own ambulance service prior to the Mobile Medic contract, with ambulances operating from fire stations. Before privatization, the city and county each paid $350,000 per year for ambulance service.

AMR operates a flexible system in which ambulances aren’t stationed in specific locations but are parked in a general area waiting for calls.

AMR operates emergency ambulance service in Hinds, Madison, Rankin, Simpson and Smith counties. The ambulance service has 353 full-time and part-time employees with an annual payroll plus benefits of $12.26 million, Pollard said.

In 2014, AMR said it responded to 75,244 calls for emergency ambulance service in the five-county area, with 36,109 of those in the city of Jackson.

“Our contract with the Hinds County Board of Supervisors requires that an AMR ambulance reach at least 85 percent of 911 scenes in Jackson within eight minutes of our receiving the information needed to respond,” Pollard said.

Contact Jimmie E. Gates at (601) 961-7212 or jgates@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @jgatesnews on Twitter.