The Pierre City Commission has approved a contract with American Medical Response to continue ambulance services within the City of Pierre. The contract is held jointly between AMR, the Cities of Pierre and Fort Pierre, and Hughes and Stanley Counties.
Pierre Mayor Steve Harding says they are taking a team approach to subsidize ambulance services in the area. He says Pierre will pay 40% of the $415,000 of the 2023 contract, or $166,000. Per the contract, Hughes County will pay for 36% of the contract, and Fort Pierre and Stanley County will cover the rest at 13% and 11% respectively. The contract has a 3% annual inflator and is good through the end of 2027.
Pierre City Commissioner Vona Johnson says although the contract is written for five years, there’s still potential for contract amendments. She says they needed to get something in place to continue service in 2023, but the four government entities are discussing other payment structures. The longer-term affordability is a concern for some of the partner agencies.
Johnson says the approval of AMR’s contract gives Pierre two important things –continued high-quality ambulance service and time to continue talking about longer-term solutions. She anticipates the entities will talk about the issue many times over before this contract expires.
Comments