AMT tells Streator it’s out; says it won’t guarantee services to Oct. 1

The local company that provides local emergency ambulance service to Streator could leave the city needing a new ambulance service sooner than anticipated.

Advanced Medical Transport, in a recent letter to the mayor and City Council, accused officials of breaking its confidentiality on the negotiations as well as improperly interfering with its employees. As a result, the company said, it won’t stay in Streator long-term, nor will it guarantee staying to Oct. 1, as it initially proposed.

Streator City Manager David Plyman, however, countered there was no such agreement and the city was being transparent with taxpayers when it released financial terms being discussed with AMT. Plyman also denied allegations of interference with AMT employees.

AMT is a private company that has provided the Streator area with 911 paramedic ambulance service since 2004. During that time, the city has not contracted with or compensated AMT, as the company made its money through its own service.

In March, the ambulance company told Streator the city would need to begin paying annually for it to stay: $400,000 for the first year, $500,000 the second year, $600,000 the third year and $700,000 the fourth year.

The company asked for notification by June if its services would be kept.

In its recent letter to the council, AMT rescinded its offer and said it will not provide a bid for future services.

Plyman told the City Council on May 18 that AMT and other private ambulance companies would be given the chance to bid on staffing-only ambulance services. Plyman also said he would continue talking to the Streator firefighters union, which has said it wants to provide ambulance services to the city. Plyman said state law required those talks be held in closed session through collective bargaining.

Private companies had from May 20 through Thursday, June 9, to submit bids on the city’s potential ambulance contract. City staff will open the bids publicly Friday, June 10.

AMT, however, said confidentiality was breached when Plyman shared the company’s initial proposal with the public. It included graduated increases over multiple years.

The company said the city manager’s request for bids would provide different services. The request was for non-stop full services of two advanced life support employees.

“The terms we provided to the city manager were to be held confidential in case the city decided to go out for bids,” Tim Beccue, vice president of finance for AMT, said in the letter. “Unfortunately, this agreed confidentiality was not honored as it was shared in public session.”

Plyman said he wasn’t aware of any confidentiality agreement, nor did he sign one. He said the city’s decision on emergency ambulance service is a public matter that required open discussion. He also said he has been complimentary of AMT’s service over the years, and its initial willingness to continue providing services to Oct. 1. He said AMT was given the same request as every other private ambulance company.

Beccue in his letter also accused Plyman of entering the Streator AMT location on Lundy Street unannounced and speaking with AMT employees without management present.

“He is reported to have discussed the staffing [request for proposal] and asserted that whoever was awarded the contract would likely hire them,” Beccue said. “... The recent action by the city manager is inexcusable and is disruptive to our operations. The resulting spike in employee uncertainty has only served to agitate AMT staff and increase risk of departure. We are still working through the resulting staff concerns.”

Beccue said he considered the actions by Plyman as not working in a collaborative partnership.

Plyman said an AMT staff member invited him, and on that visit, he left information on the request for bids and answered questions staff had for him. He said he made no offers to any of the staff.

Streator Mayor Tara Bedei had mentioned at a council meeting, whatever direction the city takes with ambulance service, there may be opportunities for employment.

“We are in an unsettled period, a period of awkwardness,” Plyman said.

The city still intends to have all its information acquired in time for its June 14 Committee of the Whole meeting to start discussing its path for securing emergency ambulance service moving forward, Plyman said.

Also Thursday, the Streator firefighters union shared a 17-page document to its Facebook page compiled by Fire Chief Gary Bird, saying it would provide the best, most efficient service to the city.

The documents go into greater detail on the finances, taking into consideration prospective revenue, but it concludes if emergency ambulance service were to be provided through the Streator Fire Department it would come at a cost of about $67,632 over the course of five years.

The Times will have a more detailed story soon about the firefighters union’s proposal.

Plyman said the city intends to buy its own equipment, vehicles and keep billing in-house to control its costs. The City Council recently voted, 3-1, against giving the city manager the go-ahead to buy two refurbished ambulances not to exceed $400,000, but council members said at that time, they needed more information about the city’s plans before moving forward on the vote.

Committee of the Whole meeting time changed

The Streator City Council will meet at 6 p.m. June 14 instead of 1:30 p.m. to allow for more residents to participate, Mayor Tara Bedei said. She said the City Council meeting also will be pushed back from June 15 to June 22.

“This will allow council to have more time to really take into consideration the best option for our community, as well as allow time for feedback from the citizens,” Bedei said.

“For the last few months, staff has been researching. Albert Einstein is quoted as having said, ‘If I had an hour to solve a problem I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.’ The point he makes is important: Preparation has great value to problem solving. We, as a city, are at the point where our 55 minutes is ending, and we are approaching that last five minutes. To date, city staff has completed the following: met with area communities to understand how they offer the service, researched costs for equipment, personnel, ambulances, etc., looked into medical billing services, and more.”

Bedei saod this is the largest decision she’s made in her eight years in council and could be the biggest the city makes in the next 10 to 15 years.