PFLUGERVILLE, Texas — The Pflugerville City Council has partnered with a private company to provide emergency services in the area.
The two-year contract is with Allegiance Mobile Health. It will begin July 1 and replace Acadian Ambulance Service, whose contract with the City ends mid-July.
This decision comes after months of back-and-forth. Before selecting Allegiance as the emergency provider, the City was also negotiating with Travis County EMS.
However, the district wanted more than $2 million a year, and the City was only willing to pay $300,000 a year.
In a press release provided to KVUE by the City, they said this will come at no cost to the City:
"The contract with Allegiance, a Texas-based private ambulance provider, will come at no cost to the City of Pflugerville. In this contract, Allegiance has agreed to provide at a minimum, four Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU) ambulances at all times, which are committed to arriving on scene for each emergency call within 7 minutes 59 seconds at least 90% of the time."
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Council members said this agreement with private ambulance services isn't their long-term goal. However, it's a move that'll help them eventually transition to a city-run EMS program.
The contract with Allegiance is for two years. If either the city or Allegiance doesn't end it, it'll automatically renew for another year.
On Thursday, Travis County Emergency Services District No. 2 issued the following statement in response to the council's decision:
"On June 14, the Pflugerville City council voted to walk away from negotiations with ESD No. 2 and contract with Allegiance, a for-profit EMS provider. The City’s recent experience with Acadian from earlier this year reinforces our concern that for-profit EMS companies cannot adequately service a city the size of Pflugerville.
"While we can’t always control the bureaucracy of the City, ESD No. 2 promises that when our community needs us, we will be there. ESD No. 2 is ready to continue to serve the community within our financial ability to do so. Our priority is saving lives and we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that the residents of Pflugerville have access to quality, affordable and reliable emergency services."
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