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Sioux Falls council approves five‑year EMS franchise with Paramedics Logistics after months of review
Summary
After months of review and public testimony from local medical experts and REMSA volunteers, the Sioux Falls City Council approved a five‑year franchise agreement with Paramedics Logistics South Dakota LLC (PCMS) to provide ambulance services, voting 7–1 on a measure that includes quality metrics, no direct subsidy and required fleet investment.
The Sioux Falls City Council approved a five‑year emergency medical services franchise with Paramedics Logistics South Dakota LLC (PCMS) on Sept. 2, voting 7–1 after public health staff, the REMSA oversight boards and local health systems urged adoption.
Public Health Director Joe Kipley told the council the agreement centers on three elements: stronger quality measures tracked under REMSA oversight; no direct city subsidy but continued review of PCMS financial statements; and capital investment, including increasing the local PCMS fleet from 11 to 12 ambulances. Kipley said letters from PCMS, Avera Health and Sanford Health supporting the contract were included in the council packet.
The REMSA Board and its Medical Board also backed the contract. Matt McQuiston, chair of the REMSA Board, described the board’s monthly oversight of response times, staffing, charting and billing and said the volunteer body’s role is to protect the patient perspective. Dr. Nicholas Dowling, chair of REMSA’s Medical Board and an emergency physician at Sanford, recommended the contract and said care and recruitment metrics have improved under the current arrangements.
Representatives of PCMS described operational gains and plans for additional new rigs. Mark Postma, an adviser with PCMS, said the company expects to deliver 12 new ambulances for Sioux Falls over the life of the contract and anticipated further expansion.
Some public commenters urged a different course. One resident argued for merging fire department paramedic operations into the city structure, criticized management practices and said disciplinary actions had chilled employees’ willingness to speak. On the council, Councilor Seale publicly stated his concerns about awarding a multi‑year, multi‑million‑dollar contract without a competitive bid process, calling it “not the way for government to act,” though he did not move to block approval.
Kipley and Dr. Dowling explained enforcement mechanics in response to council questions. They said the system uses performance thresholds — for example, an on‑time target of 8 minutes and 59 seconds for priority calls and outlier penalties for much longer responses — and cited an example outlier penalty of $1,500 that would be placed into a restricted “system improvement” fund. Those funds, they said, would be applied to items such as shared technology (the handset app used for protocols) and scholarship programs to build local EMS workforce capacity rather than being treated as an unrestricted vendor benefit.
After council discussion, the motion to approve the ordinance on second reading passed 7–1, with Councilor Sale the lone dissenting vote. The councilors who supported the contract cited REMSA’s ongoing oversight and endorsements from local health systems as key reasons for approval.
Next steps: the ordinance was adopted consistent with a second‑reading approval; city staff and REMSA representatives will continue annual reporting to council and monitor performance under the contract.
