Empress EMS is the New Provider Of 911 EMS for the City Of New Rochelle

[x635 4,066]

From the Empress EMS Facebook page:

"As of 0001 hours Empress EMS will be the 911 provider for the City of New Rochelle.

Congratulations to our staff, we invite experienced EMTs and Paramedics to apply to empress for immediate job openings. Fill out an application on our website at www.empressems.com or email us at careers@empressems.com or call (914) 965-5040 ext 3033.

We are making a difference!"

[N1Medic 69]

Congrats Empress! Didn't they hold the New Rochelle contract in the past as well?

[LTNRFD 266]

Congrats Empress! Didn't they hold the New Rochelle contract in the past as well?

This is the 6th change of providers to the City of New Rochelle for ambulance coverage after N.R. Hospital discontinued ambulance service in 1975. Empress had the contract in the mid 1980's.

Edited January 7, 2016 by LTNRFD

[LTNRFD 266]

This is what is wrong with the step child of emergency services. When any municipality puts EMS out to bid you do not get stability in service. Over the years every system goes through a cycle. The lowest bidder. Now most of the current EMS employees of TransCare NR will be looking to switch over to Empress. Thus losing seniority and pay grade. This is no way to maintain quality EMS personal.

EMS must be part of the municipality just as Police and Fire is. EMS must be the third service.

There will never be stability in EMS when there is a profit to be made.

[stixx 7]

Is there going to be 3 ambulances at night of just 2 like transcare was doing ?

[Disaster_Guy 96]

30A15 went out on an FD smoke in the structure call. 60-Control didn't assign him, and he said he would landline 60. Anybody know what's up with this?

[87D124 37]

http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/new-rochelle-makes-unexpected-midnight-switch-emergency-transportation-services

[LTNRFD 266]

30A15 went out on an FD smoke in the structure call. 60-Control didn't assign him, and he said he would landline 60. Anybody know what's up with this?

The smoke in the structure call was at the McDonalds next to Sta #3. If that was the unit assigned to stay #3, they would have had to move the ambulance so Eng 23 could respond. Thus putting them basically on the scene anyway.

[babhits16 28]

This is much more than open competitive bidding. TranCare is a sinking ship. Good move for NR.

Over the past year they have lost multiple major NYC contracts, had to skip payday several times and even sold their assets down in Maryland/ Delaware.

While EMS being the red headed step child does cause issues like this, I do not believe this is one of those circumstances.

NR is lucky to have Empress. They are an outstanding company, especially when compared to others out there. TransCare hires anybody with a pulse, while you actually have to be selected by Empress. They have higher training standards, better equipement and run a true 'high performance' system.

Edited January 7, 2016 by babhits16

[Dinosaur 844]

Used to be that the EMS agencies changed in the big cities on a regular basis. It was kind of a joke every time the contract was awarded. Most of the EMS crews would just change shirts and move into a different vehicle and voila, new agency. I guess it was when the contracts became zero bid and relied solely on billing (?) that the tenure of an agency got so much longer.

[velcroMedic1987 330]

Used to be the standing joke back in the day that medics wore Velcro patches because the companies changed in the cities so often. Sometimes it was a change for the better. Sometimes it was just a change.

All in all it's not that big a deal.

Let's see who we had in the cities...

AA
Abbey Richmond
Affiliated
Empress
TransCare

Who else am I missing?

[recoiloperated 16]

This is much more than open competitive bidding. TranCare is a sinking ship. Good move for NR.

Over the past year they have lost multiple major NYC contracts, had to skip payday several times and even sold their assets down in Maryland/ Delaware.

While EMS being the red headed step child does cause issues like this, I do not believe this is one of those circumstances.

NR is lucky to have Empress. They are an outstanding company, especially when compared to others out there. TransCare hires anybody with a pulse, while you actually have to be selected by Empress. They have higher training standards, better equipement and run a true 'high performance' system.

TC's hiring standards are only low for the "Core" side of the business (interfacility transport). In order to work on the 911 side of the business you have to be at the company for at least 6 months with no disciplinary or performance issues and then you're put on a waiting list to move over. Then you have to interview again with one of the 911 supervisors and take a skills/scenario test before they'll give you a 911 spot.

Used to be the standing joke back in the day that medics wore Velcro patches because the companies changed in the cities so often. Sometimes it was a change for the better. Sometimes it was just a change.

All in all it's not that big a deal.

Let's see who we had in the cities...

AA

Abbey Richmond

Affiliated

Empress

TransCare

Who else am I missing?

MetroCare

Edited January 8, 2016 by recoiloperated

[Viper 139]

Empress Emergency Medical Services will take over ambulance services under a 90-day emergency contract. A new emergency transportation contract will be put out for bid in the coming months.

See more at: http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/new-rochelle-makes-unexpected-midnight-switch-emergency-transportation-services#sthash.4wHWYrGF.dpuf

Does the White Plains ambulance and Mount Pleasant flycar, which are both Transcare contracts, have the same clause as New Rochelle?

[STAT213 332]

Curious what the bid was.

Up here, one city is now CHARGING its private ambulance service for the contract. Yes, the city makes money.

The charge is for dispatch services. MDTs, radios, and a share of dispatch costs.

Used to be a zero bid, now the city makes a few hundred thousand off of the company. Interesting, huh?

[x635 4,066]

*NOTE*

As to not get too far off topic, I have split the countywide consolidation conversation into it's own thread

http://www.emtbravo.net/index.php/topic/52231-countywide-ems-consolidation/

so the discussion regarding the New Rochelle EMS contract can continue to be discussed here.

[sympathomedic 383]

I am going to add my semi UN-qualified 2 cents. I have been an Empress medic for 28 years, and I am the VP of our Union, IAEP Local 20.

As for stability mentioned by LTNRFD (Mark, shouldn't you add "ret" after that name?):

When Empress lost the NR contract about 20 years or so ago, only ONE medic and ONE EMT changed over to the new vendor. Everyone else stayed, no one got laid off.

When Empress lost the WMC contract about 10 years or so ago, NO ONE left, and no one was laid off. It was a MUCH smaller contract then, only 3 providers 24X7. We got it back 3 years ago. Now it is 6 spots, 24X7 plus a lot of Txp's.

When Empress lost the MV contract a while back, NO ONE went to the new vendor, no one got laid off.

When Empress was displaced from the Harrison EMS flycar when Harrison started to be their own ALS rather than contracting, NO ONE switched over, no one got laid off.

There was a lay off about 20 years ago, which involved about 12 EMT's. ALL of which were re-called in less than 8 weeks, and in line with our contract. This was in relation to a company strategy to avoid serving clients that were far away and time consuming. I guess it worked.

I was speaking with a friend who began as a medic, like me, in 1988. He has been with TC from the beginning. I don't think Transcare existed in Westchester that early, so he may have come over from Abby.

He makes about $7/hr less than I do. I also get a $4000 annual longevity bonus. So about $18,000 annual difference.

What I did NOT ask is: what is his medical plan cost and coverage, how many paid days off does he get, and is there a retirement or 401K. My 401 K is well up in the 6 digits, 99% of which is Empress money from unused sick and vacation time. So it cost me almost nothing to accumulate that.

I guess my point is that there some stability. Never a medic laid off in company Hx. 1 episode of EMT layoffs and all quickly recalled with seniority as contract stipulates. Decent pay and benefits, but ya gotta work hard and put in your time.

One more thing, after age 50 (that's me this year!) and 25 years on the job (that's me already!) you can work 20 hrs a week and keep your benefits.

[STAT213 332]

Wow. Those are ALL rare benefits for private EMS.

So, costs are mostly the same, reimbursement should be fairly equal, depending on collection rates and ability.

First question that comes to my pea brain is .... If empress can do it, and clearly do it fairly well, why can't everyone else?

And my second question is for those other companies: WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?

[sympathomedic 383]

Stat, I asked the same question. We all bill the same folks: Medicare, medicaid, automobile, workers comp and private insurance. They all pay the same rates per call, no matter who is doing the call or how much they charge. You can bill $2000, but insurance will pay what they pay, "Usual and customary" I believe is the phrase.

So if Emp and TC are both doing a lot of calls (I think they are) and they are both getting paid the same amount per call (again I think they are), then why is one flourishing and the other not? A guy I spoke to who seemed to have banking industry info told me that TC has an bad billing operation. True? Who knows? It would explain things. But if that is the case, why not hire a billing consultant and say "FIX THIS!" Ego? bad management? Good companies fail every day.

My heart goes out to all the folks working for Transcare. They are good people I am sure. Having this kind of instability affects a lot of things- vacations, car purchases, new home purchases and other long term planning. Like EMS folks really need another stressor in their lives!?

Good luck to all of them. I hope for the best for you.

Bill

[velcroMedic1987 330]

Wow. Those are ALL rare benefits for private EMS.

So, costs are mostly the same, reimbursement should be fairly equal, depending on collection rates and ability.

First question that comes to my pea brain is .... If empress can do it, and clearly do it fairly well, why can't everyone else?

And my second question is for those other companies: WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?

Tremendous corporate overhead in some cases.

Over extension is another big flaw of these companies that grow like weeds for a while then die out when they can't sustain it. They proclaim that they can do the service for $5.00 but that doesn't tell the customer (town/village/city/district) that the actual cost is $25 and they're subsidizing it with funds from other places.

It's a giant house of cards and when it fails, it fails big.

[fyrlt17 13]

TransCare is owned by Lynn Tilton (Founder & CEO, Patriarch Partners) this is the same company that ran American LaFrance into the ground.

[LTNRFD 266]

When Empress lost the NR contract about 20 years or so ago, only ONE medic and ONE EMT changed over to the new vendor. Everyone else stayed, no one got laid off.

I can't speak for the labor history of Empress. I can only speak from my personal experience in N.R. Abbey Richmond had the New Rochelle contract from when N.R. Hospital stopped ambulance service Jan. 1, 1975 until around 1983-84 when Affiliated Ambulance was awarded the contract with a much lower bid then Abbey. Affiliated was able to do this because they had only a few EMTs and 1-2 paramedics. Once Abbey lost the contract there were more EMTs and Paramedics then Abbey could use so many of us jumped over with the promise of working only in N.R.. When we jumped we lost all our seniority, vacation pay, sick time and went to Affiliated starting pay, which was much lower then Abbey's for both EMTs and Paramedics. Most of us didn't want to leave our comfort zone, many had worked in N.R. for over 5 years. This was also good for the N.R. system. The police and fire knew us, the E.R. staff knew us, we knew N.R. and at that time the Pelham's also.

Affiliated systematically rotated in new EMTs and Paramedics into N.R. and then started to mess with the old timers,(they actually scheduled paramedics to do ambulette runs) to a point 80% of the old timers left Affiliated. It wasn't soon after the old timers left that Affiliated could not meet the contract and N.R. abruptly cancelled it. The City of N.R. then handed the contract to Empress who at the time had their own problems, but was the only remaining ambulance company that able to operate in Westchester. This was the jump start that Empress needed to grow.

Then the system cycled again and again to this point where Empress is the 6th contracted provider in N.R. When I spoke of stability in the EMS, I was also referring to the system itself, not just the employees. Every time a new provider enters the system, everyone has to adapt. However it is easier nowadays to have a smoother transition do to technology. CAD, GPS, cell phones, radios with talk-a-bout channels, etc.

[sympathomedic 383]

Hey Mark:

I didn't know before now how Empress got the contract- no idea it was by a default. I had assumed it was a lost bid. before my time.

If I recall correctly, when Empress lost it the last time, it was becasue of a $50,000 difference in bid price. Not sure if that was $50,000 per year, or spread over the 3 year length of the contract.

Your post begs the question WHY did Affiliated do that- rotate guys out, put medics in ambulletts and other seemingly silly things? I mean, why annoy your staff to the point that they leave and you lose the contract??!! When they left Affiliated, where did they find jobs?

Also, did Abbey actually lay off, or did guys just leave on their own?

In the order of a history lesson, I believe it was under Transcare that the contract fundementaly changed. Originally it was set up that NR paid the provider a set amount; I think I once heard $1.3 million, in exchange for 1 ALS unit 24X7 and a second one for 16 or 18 hours a day. Again, not sure if that was per year, or over 3 years. The providor gave the City PCR copies ( no HIPPA bac then) and the City billed. Some years they broke even, most years they lost a few thousand, once ot twice there was a small profit for the city. NR basicly bought wholesale ambulance service, and sold it to their callers for retail.

Then Transcare went to a zero-bid deal. They billed directly. That was when Pelham jumped off of being a NR add-on and contracted with Empress for service. As I recall, NR had been getting paid by Pelham $90,000 for use of the NR contracted ambulance when NR was paying for it. When it went to zero bid, NR still wanted to charge Pelham for a service that was costing NR nothing. Pelham didn't like that and so they made their own deal with Empress.

Mark, I defer to yourself and Barry who may have better information and memory than I. ( I am sure Barry THINKS he does anyhow!).

[velcroMedic1987 330]

Hey Mark:

I didn't know before now how Empress got the contract- no idea it was by a default. I had assumed it was a lost bid. before my time.

If I recall correctly, when Empress lost it the last time, it was becasue of a $50,000 difference in bid price. Not sure if that was $50,000 per year, or spread over the 3 year length of the contract.

Your post begs the question WHY did Affiliated do that- rotate guys out, put medics in ambulletts and other seemingly silly things? I mean, why annoy your staff to the point that they leave and you lose the contract??!! When they left Affiliated, where did they find jobs?

Also, did Abbey actually lay off, or did guys just leave on their own?

In the order of a history lesson, I believe it was under Transcare that the contract fundementaly changed. Originally it was set up that NR paid the provider a set amount; I think I once heard $1.3 million, in exchange for 1 ALS unit 24X7 and a second one for 16 or 18 hours a day. Again, not sure if that was per year, or over 3 years. The providor gave the City PCR copies ( no HIPPA bac then) and the City billed. Some years they broke even, most years they lost a few thousand, once ot twice there was a small profit for the city. NR basicly bought wholesale ambulance service, and sold it to their callers for retail.

Then Transcare went to a zero-bid deal. They billed directly. That was when Pelham jumped off of being a NR add-on and contracted with Empress for service. As I recall, NR had been getting paid by Pelham $90,000 for use of the NR contracted ambulance when NR was paying for it. When it went to zero bid, NR still wanted to charge Pelham for a service that was costing NR nothing. Pelham didn't like that and so they made their own deal with Empress.

Mark, I defer to yourself and Barry who may have better information and memory than I. ( I am sure Barry THINKS he does anyhow!).

Affiliated and NY Ambulance were offshoots of an ambulette company. There weren't EMS professionals running it and their focus was solely on one thing... $$$$. Affiliated came in and low bid the contracts taking both NR and MV until they screwed things up badly enough that they lost them in both cases to Empress, IIRC. I believe NR fell first and MV followed. Ironically the owners were ultimately convicted of fraud and the entire Schiowitz empire crumbled.

EMS in the 80's was far different than it is today. The only jobs (outside the city) were with privates and you just endured the trials and tribulations of contract time.

Before the current model, Yonkers went through the same thing. I believe it went hospitals, Yonkers VAC (BLS with ALS provided by Yonkers PD paramedics on "e-rigs" or precursor to fly-cars), AA, Abbey Richmond, Empress but there may have been another round of rotations back then. Amazing how the memory fades with age. YPD continued providing paramedic services for quite some time, I'm not exactly sure when they stopped.

[Gomer 25]

Let's not forget that Jim O'Connor left Transcare last year and was (re)hired by Empress EMS. HUGE mistake by Transcare!