By a 7-0 vote, the Evangeline Parish Police Jury approved the renewal of its contract with Acadian Ambulance for another five-year term. Abstaining was Juror Lamar Johnson who voiced his opposition to an exclusive contract, and Juror Daniel Arvie was not present.
The new ambulance contract will expire in December 2025, and, before which time, the contract will have to renewed if the police jury so chooses.
The discussion over ambulance contracts began earlier Monday night during the ambulance committee hearing when Alyssa Tassin and MedExpress Director of Operations Tyler Martin made their pitch for the police jury to allow MedExpress to operate parishwide. Currently, the ambulance company only operates inside the corporate limits of Ville Platte following a recent vote by the city council.
Tassin, an attorney from Mansura, told the committee she would like an ordinance to be drafted where any ambulance company “who meets criteria that would be outlined very specifically in the ordinance would be able to get a permit to operate.”
She continued, “The main thing we are asking is that you allow us to operate here, allow us to bring jobs to Evangeline Parish, and allow us to make sure your response times are the best they can be in all areas of your parish not just in Ville Platte where we are currently.”
As Tassin explained, decreased response times are not the only benefit of allowing MedExpress to operate in the parish. An added benefit would be decreased costs.
“One of the reasons Ville Platte reached out to us is because of the costs under a monopoly they were paying for jail transports,” she said. “We’re now charging the Medicaid rate.”
Martin said MedExpress operates “seamlessly” in the other parishes alongside Acadian Ambulance. “Within a minute or two,” he said, “both companies can decide who has the closest unit and who is going to rake the calls. It works on a 50-50 rotation.”
Tassin went on to say, “The more competition you have is going to create a better response time which means there’s going to be more public trust. Once that public trust is in place, more people are going to utilize the service. It does not have a negative impact on business.”
After the regular meeting began, Pat Derouselle, president of Evangeline 911 and president of the Ville Platte Volunteer Fire Department, told the full jury a committee of members of the public and the medical field was formed 20 years ago to review response times. At that time, according to Derouselle, a recommendation was made in favor of a sole provider.
Before the vote was taken, Paul Fuselier of Acadian Ambulance addressed the jury on the economics of ambulance in a small market like Evangeline Parish. He went on to cite a 1999 article and a 2015 article related to the issue. The 1999 article out of Catahoula Parish stated MedExpress would no longer be stationing a unit in the parish based on the economics.
“If this thing is diluted so much by multiple services,” said Fuselier, “then the ambulance services themselves cannot afford to provide you the best possible quality care your residents deserve.”
In other business, the police jury:
• adopted the 911 budget.
• adopted the 2020 millage rates.
• proclaimed October as Dysautonomia Awareness Month.
• set Halloween trick-or-treat hours from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the parish and beginning at 6 p.m. at Crooked Creek Recreational Park.
• approved the sale of 1.43 acres of property located in the Evangeline Parish Industrial Park.
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Tony Marks
Editor