Mercy EMS has notified the City of Pauls Valley it intends to terminate the city’s ambulance service effective Sept. 20.
Pauls Valley City Manager Lee Litterell advised city council members during their regular meeting June 27 that he had received a 90-day notice from Mercy of the intention to exercise its right to terminate the ambulance service “without cause.”
The news was delivered under the city manager comments portion of the agenda and council members made no public comment on the item.
On Wednesday, Litterell told the News Star he has met with Mercy representatives since receiving the notice.
“We’re working on ways to continue the partnership,” Litterell said.
Mercy has been providing the city’s ambulance service since 2018.
Late last year, Mercy notified city officials its contract for ambulance service would need to be renegotiated due to rising costs.
The city solicited bids for ambulance service, and in February, the Pauls Valley City Council approved a new three-year bid from Mercy that nearly doubled what the city had previously paid for ambulance service from the provider.
Mercy’s bid in February was the highest of the three bids the city received, coming in around $250,000 more than the low bid from Pafford Medical Services based in Hope, Arkansas. Wadley’s EMS in Purcell also bid on the contract.
At the time, council members cited the city’s previous history and good working relationship with Mercy as the reason for accepting the higher bid.
Though the bid was approved in February, the new contract has yet to be signed due to a disagreelooking ment over specific language contained in the contract. Litterell said contract negotiations are ongoing.
With no new contract in place, the city has continued to pay for ambulance service at the previously contracted rate.
