C'ville likely to contract for own ambulances

By Lela Garlington

While the town board hasn't voted on it yet, Collierville likely will go with a separate ambulance contract rather than stay with a countywide contract.

Unlike Bartlett, Germantown and Memphis, Collierville won't be operating an in-house ambulance service through its fire department.

The Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen is expected to vote on the matter at its June 10 meeting.

During the Shelby County Commission's public works committee meeting on Wednesday, the county public works director said Collierville would not be a part of the county system. Town officials notified the county Tuesday of its decision. Collierville's decision to drop out affects the cost of the county's contract.

Earlier this year, Collierville agreed to look at whether to remain part of the countywide ambulance service or opt out and seek a separate ambulance contract for its residents.

"Out of the responsibility to ourselves and our citizens, we wanted to see what we could get with a stand-alone contract," said Collierville spokesman Mark Heuberger.

While he declined to provide specific details because the matter is still under negotiation, Heuberger said, "We will have higher levels of guaranteed services without a significant increase in cost" by going with a stand-alone or Collierville-only contract.

In addition, the town's possible provider, Rural/Metro Corp. has its local offices in Collierville.

Rural/Metro has contracts in 90 locations in 21 states, according to its website. In Tennessee, it has contracts with Knox, Polk, Loudon and Franklin counties in addition to the one in Shelby County.

"It is all about service. We will have at least as good if not better service with our own vendor," said Collierville Fire Chief Jerry Crawford.

The town sought the proposals in February for the roughly 36 square miles of coverage area and its 45,550 residents. The proposal called for the final and best offer by April 29 and negotiations with the finalists starting May 10.

The proposal said Collierville has about 2,000 ambulance calls each year. It is seeking a response time of nine minutes or less.

A separate contract would be for five years. It would start July 1 and go through June 30, 2018.

Originally published by Lela Garlington garlington@commercialappeal.com 901-529-2349 .

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