Albion chooses Mercy Flight EMS as new ambulance provider

Photo by Tom Rivers: A Mercy Flight EMS ambulance is shown Sept. 20 when it was on standby at an Albion varsity football game.

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 November 2024 at 8:47 pm

(CORRECTION: This article was updated to state the contract includes an advanced life support fly car that would be staged in Orleans County 24-7, and not 12 hours, 7 days a week as first reported.)

ALBION – The Albion Town Board voted on a new contract for ambulance services for 2025, and picked Mercy Flight EMS over Monroe Ambulance.

Mercy Flight’s bid was less than half of the price from Monroe. Mercy’s bid was $250,000 compared to $570,000 from Monroe. That is for staging two basic life support ambulances in central and eastern Orleans 24 hours a day, seven days a week, plus an advanced life support fly car that would be available 24-7.

The three-year contract increases the ambulance presence by one more BLS ambulance.

“The cost differential is so great and the responses so identical it didn’t make sense not to take on Mercy,” said Richard Remley, the Albion town supervisor.

Monroe was paid $300,000 by the seven towns this year. In the first year of the contract in 2023 with Monroe, the towns paid $181,200. But that was from six towns. Kendall didn’t contribute the first year when Monroe was seeking $200,000 from the seven towns.

Mercy will use the former COVA base on South Main Street in Albion and is expected to have another ambulance based at the Fancher-Hulberton-Murray fire hall on Hulberton Road in Murray. (FHM is now part of the Murray Joint Fire District with the Holley Fire Department.)

Monroe staged an ambulance at the Albion Town Hall. The seven towns didn’t pay for an ambulance service until 2023. Monroe had the certificate of need for the eastern end of the county, but didn’t get paid in the town budgets until 2023. Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance had the CON for central Orleans, but that ambulance provider closed in late 2022.

The contract divvies up the expense for the seven towns based on call volume for 2024, according to the contract approved by the Albion Town Board this evening.

The contract calls for the towns to pay the following in 2025:

Albion, $93,000 ($155,820 in 2024)
Barre, $11,000 ($13,740 in 2024)
Carlton, $18,500 ($22,350 in 2024)
Clarendon, $28,000 ($25,350 in 2024)
Gaines, $38,500 ($12,030 in 2024)
Kendall, $12,750 ($17,850 in 2024)
Murray, $48,250 ($52,860 in 2024)

The contract is contingent on all seven towns approving the agreement. Jim Bell, the Albion town attorney, said he has spoken with representatives from the other six towns and they all expect to approve the new contract.

The agreement is a three-year deal with Mercy Flight getting $275,000 in 2026, and $300,000 in 2027.

Mercy Flight will operate on a fee-for-service basis and will bill insurance companies or patients for service. The money from the seven towns eases some of the financial pressure on operating an ambulance service in Orleans County, where many of the calls have low reimbursement rates from Medicaid and Medicare, town officials have said.

Mercy Flight EMS took over COVA’s ambulance station and vehicles after the organization ceased operations in late 2022. Mercy sought to be considered for the contract for the seven towns in 2023 and 2024. The seven towns put the contract out to bid this summer, requesting RFPs (request for proposals). Monroe and Mercy were the only ambulance providers to respond, Remley said.