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City of Bishop struggles with Symons Ambulance non-payment for dispatch service

Posted: 30 Nov 2013 12:16 PM PST

For the past two years, Symons Ambulance of San Bernardino and Bishop was named by Inc. Magazine in its “List of 5,000″ as one of the fastest growing companies in the nation with revenue this year listed at $3.9 million. Also this year, Symons has failed to pay the City of Bishop $13,000 for several months of ambulance dispatch services, failed to negotiate a new contract which expired in July, failed to cooperate with financial documents and discussions. Now the City faces the possibility of termination of dispatch service for Symons. This does not mean an end to ambulance service, but it could mean an end to the Bishop Police Department dispatching ambulances.
In a press release issued by the Bishop Police Department, officials say, “At the regularly scheduled City Council meeting ofDecember 9th, Police Chief Chris Carter will ask the Bishop City Council to consider discontinuing providing dispatch service to Symons Emergency Specialties (Ambulance) effective January 1, 2014.”  The press release goes on to say that “This request from Chief Carter comes after several months of negotiations with Symons in an attempt to renew an existing contract.”
Symons Ambulance originated in Bishop with founder, Judd Symons. Now, it is a major company with millions in revenue, according to Inc. Magazine. The Symons Ambulance website says the company is the ambulance provider for Southern California areas, including a newly opened Loma Linda University Medical Center in Murrieta. The site also says Symons Ambulance raced the first ambulance in the Baja 1000 on November 18th and recently opened a division in Henderson, Nevada. So why the lack of response and payment to the City of Bishop?
We called Dr. Jeff Grange, President and CEO of Symons Ambulance. When asked about the delinquent payments to Bishop, Dr. Grange said he has been out of the country and needed more information before he could comment. We placed a call to Judd Symons. He did not return our call.
Two days later, Dawn Downs of Symons Ambulance emailed to Sierra Wave Media a brief response to the Bishop Police press release. It is one paragraph and available, along with the Bishop press release, at the end of this story. The Symons ambulance response, signed by Judd Symons, did not answer why payments have not been made nor a contract negotiated. The statement did say that the company has its own dispatch center in San Bernardino but had an agreement in Bishop for such services and has been renegotiating the contract. The statement claims it has insurance reimbursement problems but says they will continue to provide service in Bishop. It was unstated if Symons will pay the City or what dispatch services they will use.
The Police Department has continued to provide dispatch services in spite of non-payment and an un-renewed contract. The Bishop press release says Symons Ambulance had asked the City to reduce their charges, “citing low reimbursement rates and financial difficulties.” The release says Chief Carter brought this request along with proposed contract changes to the City Council in October. The release says, “At that time the City Council was willing to consider the requested changes, however also asked that Symons produce a financial statement verifying the need to reduce the amount the City charges Symons for providing this service.” At news time, Symons had not provided that documentation.
In spite of repeated requests to bring their account current, Symons has failed to pay the City since February and owes $13,000. The press release says initially, Symons Ambulance officials found the terms of the dispatch contract to be “reasonable and fair”. The release says, “While the City of Bishop recognizes and appreciates the valuable service to the public that Symons provides, we cannot ignore the fact that Symons is a private, for-profit business. As such, they are not entitled to have their operation funded with taxpayer monies.”
The press release says all of this does not mean that Symons will cease operations in Bishop. The Police Department, however, would not be responsible for dispatching ambulances to where they are needed. That responsibility would fall on Symons to determine.
The final paragraph of the Police Department press release says that “Chief Carter and the City of Bishop have gone to extraordinary measures in attempts to work with Symons in order to settle the matter and continue to assist Symons in providing services to our citizens. Unfortunately,” says the City, “it appears that an agreement will not be forthcoming.”
 BISHOP POLICE DEPARTMENT PRESS RELEASE:
City Council to Consider Termination of Dispatch Service to Symons
Emergency Specialties (Ambulance)
At the regularly scheduled City Council Meeting of December 9, 2013, Chief Chris Carter of the Bishop Police Department will ask the Bishop City Council to consider discontinuing providing dispatch service to Symons Emergency Specialties (Ambulance), effective January 1, 2014.  This request from Chief Carter comes after several months of negotiations with Symons in an attempt to renew an existing contract.
In July of 2012, Symons Ambulance and the City of Bishop entered into a contract whereby the Police Department would dispatch Symons ambulances throughout the greater Bishop area.
That contract expired in July of 2013 and the Police Department has continued to provide dispatching of ambulances while attempts to renegotiate the contract were ongoing.   During the negotiations process Symons Emergency Specialties, which is based out of San Bernardino, had made a request for the City to reduce their charges, citing low reimbursement rates and financial difficulties.  Chief Carter brought this request along with other proposed changes to the contract before the Bishop City Council in October.  At that time the City Council was willing to consider the requested changes, however also asked that Symons produce a financial statement verifying the need to reduce the amount the City charges Symons for providing this service.
As of today, Symons Emergency Specialties has not responded to the City’s request to provide documentation of financial hardship.  Additionally, Symons owes the City approximately $13,000 and has not remitted payment for services to the City of Bishop since February of 2013, despite repeated requests that they attempt to bring their account into balance.
When the contract was originally constructed, a representative of Symons met with Chief Carter and City Administrator Keith Caldwell.  The terms and conditions of the contract were determined to be reasonable and fair and thereafter agreed to by all parties.  While the City of Bishop recognizes and appreciates the valuable service to the public that Symons provides, we cannot ignore the fact that Symons is a private, for-profit business.  As such, they are not entitled to have their operation funded with tax payer monies.  Even where one Government Agency is providing similar service to another, the costs for those services must be covered.  Currently the Town of Mammoth Lakes Police Department contracts with Mono County for law enforcement dispatching services.  The Town of Mammoth Lakes is contractually obligated to pay Mono County for this service.
This does not mean that Symons will cease operations and there will be no ambulance service, it only means that the Bishop Police Department will not be responsible for dispatching ambulances to where they are needed.  This responsibility will now fall back upon Symons and they will determine how best to accomplish this task.
Chief Carter and the City of Bishop have gone to extraordinary measures in attempts to work with Symons in order to settle the matter and continue to assist Symons in providing service to our citizens.  Unfortunately, it appears that an agreement will not be forthcoming.  Should the Bishop City Council agree to Chief Carter’s request, the Police Department will discontinue service effective January 1, 2014.
SYMONS AMBULANCE STATEMENT:
Symons Ambulance remains committed to providing the residents of Bishop with the highest quality ambulance service.   Symons Ambulance has it own dispatch center in San Bernardino, however, in order to provide better service to the local community, Symons had an agreement with the Bishop Police Department for dispatch services.  Due to increasingly decreased reimbursements for emergency services, Symons has been in the process of renegotiating the dispatch contract and already made the first payment for services rendered.   The residents of Bishop can continue to rely upon Symons Ambulance to provide them with timely, compassionate, high quality medical care.
Judd Symons

State Funding Mess Prompts Closer Look at City of Bishop (Ca.) Projects (Inyo Register July 13, 2010) By Mike Bodine

State funding mess prompts closer look at city projects

Tuesday, 13 July 2010

By Mike Bodine Register Staff 7-13-2010 The Bishop City Council is asking Public Works to pull in the reins and slow down on the incredible amount of projects being pursued in the city. One of the agenda items at the council's retreat on July 6 was the prioritization of Public Works projects. The council worried about getting stretched too far out, financially, with projects that are primarily funded through a reimbursement process by the state. The state has yet to pass a budget and is facing a $20 billion deficit. Water and sewer projects that usually accompany road projects, because it is less expensive to replace underground infrastructure with the asphalt removed, are paid for through city Water and Sewer fees. Part of these fees go to an emergency fund that pays for things like the sewer repair on Hanby Street. The council said it wanted to make sure that emergency fund does not diminish too much, in case of another emergency. Public Works has explained that with the sour economy, bids for jobs are at an unprecedented low – a buyers market. Public Works Director Dave Grah said bids are as much as one-third lower than normal. Councilmembers said they trust Grah and all praised him and his department for the vast amount of repair and maintenance to the infrastructure of the city, improvements that the council credited to Grah. The retreat was not intended to give direction to department heads but for discussion. "We rely on his (Grah's) judgement," Councilmember Bruce Dishion said. "We just needed more details about what is going on." At the retreat, the council asked Grah to clarify why and how certain projects are prioritized the way they are. Grah explained with spread sheets and data how uncontrollable factors like weather affect projects, be it pouring concrete or pavement. He also explained that funding from the state is very unpredictable, not only with which projects will be funded, but when. City Administrator Pick Pucci said that, unfortunately, the state also has the "ultimate jurisdiction" to pull money from a project at any time. Councilmember Dave Stottlemyre said the council expressed to Grah its concerns about the difficult economic times, and that the council felt there were too many projects moving forward at once. "Our main emphasis," Stottlemyre said, "was to identify smaller projects, and slow down a bit, exercising the fiscal responsibility of the council." Stottlemyre added the council did not want to "get caught too far out" with projects when the state plainly cannot be trusted to reimburse the city. Councilmember Laura Smith reiterated Stottlemyre's sentiments in that even though bids for jobs are low, it's best not to go ahead with too many projects at once. Councilmember Susan Cullen said that Public Works is being asked to focus on a single major construction project per year. The next project the state has agreed to fund will be Project A that includes repaving, water and sewer maintenance on North Third Street and Short Street. The next project will be the Warren Street project that is at least five years out, Grah said. The Warren project would include burying overhead utilities. The Warren Street project raised the concerns of the council when Grah said he wanted to transfer funding to Warren from the Sneden and Pine Street projects where $50,000 of preliminary studies has already been completed. Grah explained that the studies can be used in the future when funding for that project comes along. Grah added that in the future, as state funding fluctuates, the city may have several projects going on at once, but major construction will try and be limited to once a year. Grah said the council will continue to be updated on projects during department head reports at council meetings.