American Ambulance says three ambulances would meet Bridgeport transfer demand; AMR had argued for five

American Ambulance told a regulatory hearing that placing three ambulances at a proposed Bridgeport branch would be sufficient to handle interfacility transfers for St. Vincent’s Medical Center and would not reduce service in its current primary service areas.

Joshua J. Bolier, director of operations for American Ambulance, testified under oath that the company is licensed to operate 29 ambulances, currently staffs 21 in service, and expects to deploy three dedicated ambulances to a Bridgeport base at 765 Fairfield Avenue under a lease with the property owner, Harford Healthcare. Bolier said American Ambulance performs roughly 15,000 interfacility transports annually from its east region hospitals and that company filings project 37,355 calls over the next 12 months, with roughly 5,475 attributable to the proposed Bridgeport base.

Bolier disputed AMR’s pre-filed estimate (attributed to AMR’s Mr. Sheinger) that the Bridgeport branch would need five ambulances. "I don't [agree]," Bolier said on cross-referenced testimony, adding that "one ambulance conservatively should be able to handle between five and seven transports in a 12-hour period," and that three strategically staffed ambulances provide a conservative cushion. He testified the Bridgeport ambulances would be newly purchased units and would be staffed by newly hired personnel for that base rather than redeploying crews from Norwich or other existing branches.

On operational capacity, Bolier said American Ambulance typically staffs between 16 and 19 ambulances on an average day out of 21 vehicles in service, with two to four additional vehicles available to rotate for maintenance or outages. He said adding three ambulances to Bridgeport would not interrupt the company’s PSA obligations to Norwich, Griswald, Ledger and Foxwoods Casino because the Bridgeport vehicles would be added capacity rather than reassigned assets.

Bolier described the proposed site as approximately two miles from St. Vincent’s Bridgeport campus and said that proximity, along with the prescheduled nature of most interfacility transfers, would help the company achieve an on-time performance target of 90% for scheduled transfers. He also described first-floor space modifications, crew lounge and equipment storage plans, and covered parking for three ambulances with electrical drops for charging.

Cross-examination by Attorney Curtis pressed on operating costs, response times in other branches and whether the Bridgeport operation would be cost-effective for the EMS region. Bolier said he did not have detailed branch operating costs at hand and that geography and call volume limit improvements in response times without adding base locations. Counsel asserted an annual operating cost of about $2.578 million for the Bridgeport base; Bolier said that figure had been identified as the cost to operate the base but emphasized that revenue from transports offsets expenses and described the project as "sustainable." The hearing officer sustained objections to requests for proprietary financial detail but ordered a late filing (due June 26) to provide the cost of the three ambulances and related cost information.

Bolier also addressed discrepancies in service-request counts: he disputed AMR’s quoted 11,243 transport requests figure and said American Ambulance’s corrected supplemental filing showed a little over 32,000 requests in the past 12 months, with attachment P projecting 37,355 calls over the next year. He said the approximately 5,475-call difference was attributable to expected volume related to the Bridgeport base.

No formal decision or vote was recorded in the transcript. The hearing officer set a due date of June 26 for the applicant’s late filing that must include the ambulances’ purchase costs and related financial details. The record shows the hearing went off the record for a short recess at the end of the excerpt provided.