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Peoria renews 5-year franchise with Advanced Medical Transport; AMT pledges apprenticeship support
Summary
The City Council unanimously approved a five-year renewal of its franchise agreement with Advanced Medical Transport (AMT), continuing ambulance transport services and formalizing workforce cooperation including a $50,000-per-year pledge for three years to support a Peoria Fire Department apprenticeship and AMT training program.
Peoria — The City Council unanimously approved a five‑year franchise agreement renewal with Advanced Medical Transport, continuing a 34‑year partnership and expanding workforce-development cooperation between the private ambulance provider and the municipal fire department.
Why it matters: The agreement preserves the city’s established ambulance transport arrangement, formalizes operational coordination with the Peoria Fire Department and emergency dispatch, and adds a financial commitment from AMT to underwrite apprenticeship training that will place local students into paid EMT training and jobs.
Advanced Medical Transport CEO described the renewal as a continuation and upgrade of a long partnership. "This resolution to me is a celebration of our 34 year partnership," AMT CEO said, noting the organization’s scale: roughly 350 caregivers, a fleet of 48 advanced life‑support vehicles and more than 60,000 transports annually.
Terms and local operations: The contract is a five‑year agreement that the parties will revisit within 180 days of its expiration; if both sides agree to proceed, the council will consider subsequent five‑year tranches for approval. AMT committed to a new pledge of $50,000 per year for three years to support the Peoria Fire Department’s apprenticeship program, including AMT’s “earn‑while‑you‑learn” course that provides paid on‑the‑job training and an EMT basic certificate. Chief Sahlberger and Director Brandon Blaney described the agreement as improving coordination between AMT, the fire department and the emergency communications center.
The council and speakers discussed operational capacity: AMT said its system handles roughly 60,000 transports per year; the fire department reported more than 23,000 calls for service and said all 12 city fire stations now have a paramedic available 24/7, with 60 system‑certified paramedics and 5 nurses. The contract includes provisions to enable basic‑life‑support (BLS) ambulances to handle lower‑acuity calls while ALS (paramedic) units attend the highest‑priority calls. The arrangement also allows paramedics in the field to upgrade care and transfer a patient to an AMT BLS unit where appropriate.
Labor and community input: Council members, the fire union and AMT leadership said the renewal followed two years of negotiations and labor engagement. Council members who reviewed the negotiations described the process as deliberate and partnership‑oriented. "This is the culmination of communication and transparency," one council member said during a lengthy public discussion.
Vote and implementation: The council voted unanimously to approve the five‑year franchise renewal and related memorandum language. The chief and AMT agreed to continued performance monitoring and joint workforce training; AMT and the city will return to council if either side proposes to alter the long‑term franchise arrangement before the next five‑year decision point.
Ending: Council members praised the renewed partnership and the apprenticeship funding as steps to strengthen emergency response and build a local EMS workforce.
