Council approves one-year, $740,000 ambulance contract with Emergency Ambulance

The Placentia City Council voted unanimously April 15 to approve a one-year contract with Emergency Ambulance for emergency ambulance services, a short-term measure ahead of a competitive procurement process. Staff told the council the contract covers 9-1-1 basic life support services and buys the city time to issue an RFP before the current contract expires June 30, 2025.

City staff described the agreement as a one-year, $740,000 contract with an option to extend for one additional year. The staff report said Emergency Ambulance has been the city’s ambulance transport provider for basic life support since 1994 and that negotiations with the incumbent, Lynch EMS, did not yield a mutually acceptable multi-year extension. After a motion and a roll-call vote, the council approved the contract by a 5–0 vote.

Craig Green, a resident who addressed the council during oral communications, urged caution about switching providers and questioned whether the city would accept lower bids that might affect service quality: "I sure hope we aren't going to suffer inferior services by going to a new vendor." The council acknowledged public comments and the staff rationale that a short-term arrangement would allow an objective evaluation through an RFP process.

The motion to approve the emergency ambulance contract was made on the record, seconded, and approved by roll call (all five present voting yes). The contract amount, contract term (one year with one-year extension option), and the plan to issue an RFP were included in staff’s presentation and in the formal action recorded in the meeting minutes.