The DeWitt County Ambulance Advisory Committee (DCAA) received just three proposals from providers seeking to obtain ambulance services to DeWitt County.
Two out of area proposals came in, one from the Chicago area and one from the St. Louis area. Just one local provider put in a proposal. The Request For Proposal from the DeWitt County Ambulance Advisory Committee asked each vendor to provide subsidy figures for the first three years and and alternate subsidy was also provided.
The lowest bidder was a company from the west side of Chicago, Paramedic Services of Illinois. DCAA Chair Teresa Barnett read their proposal which stated they are asking for a subsidy payment of almost $392-thousand per year.
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The lone local provider, the DeWitt County Ambulance Association, Inc. requested an increase in subsidy payments each year, going from almost $424-thousand in year one to just over $476-thousand in year three. Barnett says they also included an alternate subsidy request.
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The highest bidder was Abbott EMS of Illinois from Belleville. Their bid started at $465-thousand for year one and rose to over $500-thousand by year three.
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Each member of the committee was provided a proposal packet, which was limited to up to 25 pages per vendor, to take home and review and study. Barnett explains the next step is for the Committee to reconvene Wednesday evening to discuss the proposals.
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This coming Wednesday the Committee also plans to decide when they want each provider to come in and present to them. Barnett explains the RFPs stated the turn around time for each vendor to present would be very short.
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Moving forward, the Committee plans to review and study the proposals leading up to their Wednesday evening meeting. Thursday and Monday will be designated as presentation days. The Committee will also be sending out members to visit the sites of the vendors and they designated committee members to call references for each vendor.
The Committee made one change in their upcoming meeting schedule. The DeWitt County Board moved their August meeting to Thursday the 30th, with that in mind the Committee decided to move their decision day to Wednesday, August 22.
