Chandler City Council discussing future transition to own ambulance service

PHOENIX — The Chandler City Council met for a work session on Friday to discuss a future transition to a municipal emergency ambulance system.

City council members were informed of the Chandler Fire Department’s concerns with their current outsourced model and reviewed a feasibility study to determine steps toward creating their own emergency services.

Chandler Fire has contracted its ambulance services with five different providers since 2002 and the embedded contracts all run through 2026. Hiring practices, turnover and training by service providers were specific challenges brought up at the meeting.

Other obstacles in the current model included operating procedures, equipment replacement plans, flexibility to meet service demands and rates charged to transport citizens.

A study conducted by the James Vincent Group earlier this year analyzed resource needs, deployment and costs for a city-owned ambulance service.

Start-up fees, totaling an estimated $10 million, featured the purchase of nine ambulances and related equipment and the hiring of 21 emergency medical technicians, six paramedics and three support personnel.

The initial payment will be recouped within the first five years of the ambulance’s installment by collecting transport fees, according to a press release.

The following benefits were determined if a municipal emergency ambulance system was installed:

• Hiring, training and management of professional staff.
• Continuity of patient care, operations, equipment and staffing.
• Dynamic deployment of services that provides better system coverage to fulfill Chandler’s peak demand, surge capacity and events.
• Cost control of charges for transport rates and equipment fees.

If approved, the transitionary process would begin in January 2027 following the current contract’s expiration.

The council vouched its support of the project but did not vote or take action in the work session.

Approval of the ambulance purchases is the first step in this project’s process, something that could happen as soon as this fall. Chandler Fire would then need to submit a Certificate of Necessity application to the Arizona Department of Health Services to pursue ground ambulance next year.

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