After a somewhat controversial ambulance contract was awarded to American Medical Response (AMR) over Santa Barbara County Fire Department in February, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted on Tuesday for County Fire to not engage in a subcontract agreement with AMR that would’ve made County Fire the main ambulance provider in Lompoc, Carpinteria, Summerland, and Montecito. The decision came at the recommendation of County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig, whose financial consultants found that the fire district would be put at a $41 million loss with no break-even point if they entered into the agreement.
The supervisors also agreed with Chief Hartwig that it’s time to sell the 35 brand-new ambulances and equipment that County Fire purchased for a total of $7.7 million in 2023. AMR’s contract was expiring at the time, and County Fire had to purchase such equipment to be eligible to bid on a new contract. County Fire was awarded the contract later that year despite scoring much lower in the bidding process.
AMR — the sole ambulance provider in Santa Barbara County for more than 40 years — sued the county soon after, claiming that the county’s alleged ignorance of the competitive process helped facilitate an ambulance monopoly. After Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Donna Geck and California Attorney General Rob Bonta both weighed in strongly in AMR’s favor, the county settled in February and granted a four-year contract to AMR. As part of the settlement agreement, which cost the county $830,000 in outside legal fees, AMR agreed to give County Fire the option to subcontract for ambulance services in Lompoc, Carpinteria, Summerland, and Montecito.
Calls for service originating from the proposed subcontract areas make up only 15 percent of calls countywide, according to Kelsey Buttitta, a county spokesperson. Firefighters have further argued that those areas are not profitable, and the financial consultants agreed.
“It really comes down to the call volume and the busyness of resources,” said Chief Hartwig. “We don’t provide service there, so we would need to invest in infrastructure and supervision that we don’t have in those areas.”
“Medicare and Medicaid accounted for the largest share of total transports” in both areas, according to the report conducted by Brandt VX. “Even under best-case revenue scenarios, operational costs outpace earnings, making financial viability unattainable.”
