Pflugerville - Hutto Edition | July 2022

CITY & COUNTY

News from Pugerville & Hutto

Ocials OK two-year EMS contract with Allegiance Mobile Health PFLUGERVILLE After approxi- mately three months of discussion and negotiations, private ambulance service Allegiance Mobile Health will take over as Pugerville’s new EMS provider July 1. BY CARSON GANONG THE PATH TO ALLEGIANCE Pugerville sta have been working to provide a stable EMS provider for the city since late 2020. Some facts • Begins July 1, 2022, and ends June 30, 2024 • Contains options to renew for one-year subsequent terms • Replaces an agreement with Travis County ESD 2 that was in the planning stages • Comes at no cost to the city of Pugerville because Allegiance charges patients directly

about the latest contract with Allegiance Mobile Health include:

At a June 14 meeting, Pugerville City Council approved a two-year EMS contract with Allegiance. The motion passed in a 4-2 vote, with Council Member Rudy Metayer and Mayor Victor Gonzales voting no. Mayor Pro Tem Doug Weiss was not present for the vote. Prior to selecting Allegiance for EMS, the city was engaged in nego- tiations with both Allegiance and Travis County Emergency Services District No. 2. Throughout discussions on selecting a replacement for previ- ous provider Acadian Ambulance Services, council members have maintained that eventually transi- tioning to a city-run EMS program is a priority for Pugerville.

• Provides at least four ambulances within Pugerville city limits at all times • Requires response time of 7 minutes, 59 seconds at least 90% of the time

SOURCE: CITY OF PFLUGERVILLE

games any longer.” Ruiz said Allegiance representa- tives indicated during negotiations that they were “more than happy” to work with the city on a transition plan. Metayer said he voted no because he was hesitant to choose a private provider over a public one, a concern that Gonzales echoed. However, Council Member Jim McDonald said selecting Allegiance now would help establish a public EMS department in the long run.

“I feel that going with the private entity aords us the path to a munici- pal entity,” McDonald said. Allegiance took over the city’s ambulance services from Acadian on July 1, two weeks before the compa- ny’s contract would have expired on July 13, according to city sta. Until either party chooses to alter or end it, the contract with Alle- giance is set to automatically renew for another year upon completion of the initial two-year period and every year thereafter.

Several city ocials agreed that priority was the deciding factor in choosing Allegiance over ESD 2. At a recent joint meeting between Pugerville City Council and the ESD 2 Board of Commissioners, ESD 2 o- cials expressed reluctance to commit to helping initiate a transition to a city-run EMS. “Transition doesn’t seem to be a long-term goal for [ESD 2] as it is for us,” Council Member Ceasar Ruiz said. “We don’t have time to continue playing around with these

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