<b>By Libby Cluett</b><br><a href="mailto:lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com">lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com</a>
Palo Pinto General Hospital trustees last week awarded CareFlite Ground Services the contract for hospital ground transportation, replacing Guardian EMS.
PPGH selected CareFlite because “They are the gold standard of EMS in North Texas and [because of] the resources they have at their disposal,” said CEO Harris Brooks.
CareFlite Ground Services will not only provide ground transport for the hospital, but will provide mutual aid to city or to the county volunteer EMS services, Brooks said. In addition, the company will dedicate a truck to PPGH, which will be located in Mineral Wells.
Guardian EMS, when stationed in Mineral Wells, provided these services, but Brooks said the hospital was dissatisfied with the company’s service after they moved their truck from Mineral Wells to Weatherford.
“We were unhappy with Guardian’s response time,” said Brooks. “When they were based here they were fine, but once they moved their station to Weatherford, that distance really hurt.”
Before PPGH’s contract for ground transportation with Guardian expired, the hospital board decided to go out for competitive bids.
Four companies showed interest and three submitted proposals, including: Guardian, with a parent company in Columbus, Texas; Tri-State, out of Decatur; and CareFlite, based in Grand Prairie.
In addition to having a truck based locally, Brooks said CareFlite brought more to the table than other companies. He said the company’s total resources in the North Texas region made them a strong candidate.
“They might not be busy today [in Mineral Wells or Palo Pinto County], but we might need three trucks tomorrow and they have a lot more resources a lot closer than anyone else had,” said Brooks.
CareFlite is a non-profit company. Its ground service division was founded in 1981 and operates in the DFW Metroplex. Among its clientele, CareFlite has served the citizens of Johnson County as the primary 911 emergency services provider since 2003. According to its Web site, CareFlite employees based in Johnson County respond to over 8,000 calls each year.
