Fire chief says Salem on track for city takeover of ambulance service
The public takeover of Salem’s ambulance service from private ambulance provider Falck, is on track for next summer, Salem’s fire chief said Wednesday.
Chief Mike Niblock addressed a newly-formed committee of city leaders and medical providers tasked with overseeing the transition. The fire department will begin operating Salem’s ambulances July 1, 2025, after the city’s current contract with Falck expires.
That will require having 12 new ambulances and 52 new city employees to run them.
“It’s a lot of planning and logistics…We are really working with them to coordinate,” Niblock said.
Niblock said the new system will cost roughly $10 million a year for wages and benefits. The city expects to turn a profit on ambulance services through billing patients and potential state reimbursements, and reduce costly overtime spending that’s needed when Falck doesn’t meet its contract requirements.
The Salem City Council in March unanimously approved the public takeover of Salem’s ambulance service at Niblock’s recommendation.
Consultant group AP Triton recommended a new ambulance service model for the fire department based on a six-month study of the current system.
That new model will involve having 5 ambulances on the streets of Salem 24/7 and another three running during peak hours seven days a week, said Deputy Chief, Brian Carrara.
Niblock told the city council that Falck was not meeting its requirements under its contract with the city, which resulted in the city having to put crews on publicly-paid overtime to staff agency medic units to fill in the gaps.
Salem Reporter on June 12 requested records from the city documenting how Falck has performed under its contract. The city has yet to provide those records and most recently estimated it would take until Aug. 30 to do so.
Under the contract, Falck is obligated to maintain a minimum of 1,030 scheduled unit hours per week, which a company representative admitted it had not met during a March 25 city council meeting.
Because of Falck’s failure to meet its obligations under the contract, the city has spent $3.3 million on overtime since November 2021 to make up the gaps, Niblock wrote in a staff report from March.
Niblock said the fire department is projecting it will reach 1,080 hours per week once it gets up and running.
The committee, which will meet regularly leading up to the takeover, includes Mayor Chris Hoy, City Manager Keith Stahley, City Councilors Micki Varney and Deanna Gwyn and several local emergency medical providers.
Niblock pointed out that the fire department has been involved in such transitions twice before. In 2005, the city handed over EMS services to private ambulance service provider Rural Metro. Falck took over the contract from Rural Metro in 2015.
Niblock said all 12 ambulances have been ordered, and cost roughly $3 million.
“All 12 ambulances will be here, equipped, staffed, ready to go, well before July 1,” Niblock said.
He said the fire department is also waiting to hear back on a federal grant which will provide three more ambulances.
The new Salem fire-run ambulance system will start out with 22 paramedics and 30 EMTs, and that the department is currently in talks with the firefighter’s union about the specifics of the new positions. Niblock said more employees will be hired as time goes on but that 52 should be enough to run the system at first.
He said the fire department also met with Falck employees who will have the option to apply for a position with Salem fire when the time comes.
“Quite frankly they are excited at the opportunity. We are going to pay a living wage, we are going to have decent benefits. And we are going to be competitive in the marketplace,” Niblock said. “I think there are a lot of people looking at coming to Salem fire to work as a paramedic or an EMT moving forward.”
Niblock said he hopes all of Falck’s employees will apply for new positions in the next three or four weeks, with interviews scheduled in the fall.
“We are charging hard, as fast as we can, but as carefully as we can,” Niblock said of the transition.
Niblock said that when the new system goes online in July, the fire department would not collect any money until around November or December because of the length of time needed to get reimbursed by health insurance companies.
“There is a gap there between providing the service and paying the salaries,” Niblock said. “We have to calculate out, when we get 50 employees on, what each payday looks like…We will have to borrow money, most likely to float ourselves until we start collecting revenue. And once we start collecting revenue we will start paying those bills off … we are going to borrow as little as we can to make it through that.”
After Niblock’s presentation, City Councilor Micki Varney, who requested to set up the committee, said she was concerned about the financial risk associated with the fire department’s takeover of ambulance services and wanted more information.
“Looking at the lens folks are watching us, budget-wise, I am concerned about the financial risks down the road, and I think that is one thing people are going to be wanting more information on,” Varney said. “When I hear all this about funds, and borrowing money, and paying it off … I think having a better picture of that, whether it’s a flow chart … might be helpful for me to convey that information.”
The committee will meet next in October.
Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.
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Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.
