Several ambulances belonging to a private service will soon be visible in the Historic Triangle as Riverside Health System has contracted with that company to ferry patients between its locations throughout Hampton Roads.
American Medical Response Mid-Atlantic will pick up the service for Riverside, which transports more than 1,000 patients per month around its various locations in the area, including Riverside Doctor’s Hospital in Williamsburg. The service will not provide emergency services, as that is the purview of the Williamsburg Fire Department.
Service could begin as soon as the beginning of May.
The new service became necessary after ambulance service First Med declared bankruptcy in December. Since then, Riverside has relied on Eagle, MTI and its own internal patient transfer service in Newport News to move patients around its system, according to Riverside spokesman Peter Glagola.
“We are looking forward to working with this company,” Glagola said. “We believe they’re a very innovative transport company, and they’re going to treat our patients well.”
Because AMR will operate in Williamsburg, the Williamsburg City Council had to give their blessing. They voted unanimously at their April 10 meeting to allow AMR to begin work in the city.
Williamsburg Fire Chief Pat Dent told the council AMR will not provide emergency service, though in the event of a major catastrophe, their help could be requested.
AMR spokesman Ron Cunningham said his company is excited to begin work in Williamsburg. He said in addition to transporting patients between Riverside sites, his company will work with nursing homes and other long-term care providers.
“We’re excited to be up there,” Cunningham said. “We’re really looking to become part of the community.”
He said his company is exploring other opportunities in the area. He also noted AMR likes to host community events, such as a CPR training event that attracted resulted in more than 54,000 people receiving CPR training in 2013.
AMR has about 18,000 caregivers working in 141 operations across 40 states and Washington, D.C.
