Las Cruces moves away from AMR contract, plans fire-based EMS expansion

Las Cruces city officials told the City Council on July 14 they will not renegotiate the county’s ambulance contract with American Medical Response and are accelerating plans to expand fire-department ambulance coverage for 9-1-1 calls and transfers.

The decision followed an update from Fire Chief Mike Daniels on response-time shortfalls under the existing county-managed contract and the department’s preparations to add units and staff. “We notified AMR that we were not going to be interested in renegotiating a contract with them,” Daniels said during the work session.

Why it matters: Councilors were shown data that private ambulance response in the city met the contract’s 10-minute standard for critical emergent calls only 44 percent of the time and met noncritical emergent standards 54 percent of the time. The shortfalls occurred while the county paid a subsidy intended to support 9-1-1 ambulance availability; Daniels said the contract included liquidated-damage provisions and that AMR incurred large penalties in year one. The city is preparing to add rescue/transport units, hire single-role emergency medical technicians and paramedics, and rely less on the two-tier model in which private ambulances handle most transports.

Background and contract history: Daniels summarized a long-running shift. The city has operated in a two-tier system in which the fire department provides first response and a private ambulance provider handles transport. Las Cruces applied for its own ambulance certificate in 2019; the city and county later reached a settlement so the county would…