City of Harlingen gives South Texas Emergency Care Foundation 3-year contract

We think it’s a good contract for the citizens of Harlingen. It provides some stability being a longer term.

HARLINGEN — The city’s ambulance company is getting a longer contract while the agency’s boosting its response times along with its local fleet numbers.

Since late last year, the South Texas Emergency Care Foundation’s been operating under a nine-month contract while Commissioner Rene Perez called on the agency to bolster its response times to non-emergency calls.

During a June 7 meeting, commissioners voted to enter into a three-year contract with STEC, with Commissioner Frank Morales casting the lone dissenting vote.

“The response times are improving,” Perez said during an interview.

Under the contract, STEC is retaining its exclusive rights to provide ambulance service within the city whose ordinance grants police the power to cite outside ambulances entering the city limits.

“STEC is pleased with the way the contract turned out,” Randy Whittington, the attorney representing the company, said during an interview. “We think it’s a good contract for the citizens of Harlingen. It provides some stability being a longer term. We would have preferred a five-year contract. Our response times have been superb. The average of all responses to 911 calls has been well below eight minutes.”

‘Meeting community needs’

During the nine-month contract’s term, city officials have worked with STEC to meet the city’s needs, Mayor Norma Sepulveda stated.

”For years, STEC has been been an incredible community partner providing exceptional patient care to the residents of the city of Harlingen,” she stated. “Over the last nine months, the commission has worked closely with STEC to ensure we are meeting the needs of our community. It is evident that the men and women of STEC are resilient, passionate and committed to the well-being of our community. Not only do they strive to provide excellent care while responding to emergency situations, but they are creating innovative ways to care for vulnerable populations within our community to prevent emergency situations. I’m confident over the next three years, STEC and the commission will continue to work together to ensure each patient is provided a level of care and compassion that one would wish for their own loved ones.”

On STEC’s board of directors, Commissioner Ford Kinsley’s overseeing the agency’s operations.

“I have been continually impressed with the quality of the men and women — the product itself in terms of response times,” Kinsley, the commission’s representative on the agency’s board, said during an interview. “I think they’ve got great leadership.”

Three-year contract

As part of the new contract, STEC officials agreed to update commissioners on the agency’s service, Perez said.

Under the company’s nine-month contract, STEC officials were presenting commissioners with regular reports.

“They’re going to provide quarterly reports to the public,” Perez said. “That way the citizens of Harlingen can be aware of their performance.”

Perez said commissioners agreed to give STEC a three-year contract, noting the city had long granted the company five-year contracts.

“By having shorter contracts, we hold them accountable,” he said. “It allows for future commissions to vote on it. A short contract with STEC is a good thing for Harlingen. It ensures that every elected commissioner will always have an opportunity to vote on the contract and at the same time adds a level of accountability. Accountability has always been my main goal with STEC.”

Questioning service coverage

Meanwhile, Morales said he’s concerned STEC might not have enough ambulances in its fleet to serve the city along with other Cameron County cities the agency serves.

“I’m fearful that we don’t have adequate coverage,” he said during an interview. “We share ambulances with the others. There will be times when they have to go somewhere else and we don’t have the coverage. Let’s pray that in the next three years we don’t have a major catastrophe.”

Increasing fleet numbers

Under the contract, STEC’s increasing its number of ambulances in the city’s service area, Commissioner Daniel Lopez stated.

As part of its nine-month contract, STEC’s boosted its number of ambulances serving the city from three to at least six to nine, Whittington said.

“After a review of STEC’s performance in a number of categories, such as emergency and non-emergency response times and their cooperation in expanding the number of on-call ambulances to increase coverage for our residents, the commission, as a body, wants to continue this valuable partnership for the benefit of our citizens,” Lopez stated. “We sincerely appreciate STEC’s transparency and never-ending quest to improve performance so as to maintain its status as the gold standard throughout the state.”

Back-up service

Meanwhile, Commissioner Michael Mezmar noted STEC holds agreements with outside ambulance companies to offer back-up service.

“In the event of an emergency, all the ambulance companies in the Rio Grande Valley have mutual aid agreements to respond and support other ambulance companies,” Mezmar, a retired nurse practitioner, said.

“I’m pleased that the city of Harlingen and STEC continue their partnership for another three years,” he said. “STEC provides quality ambulance service. They are critical to the Harlingen health care system.”

Cutting city costs

For about 10 years, the city has granted STEC exclusive rights to provide emergency and non-emergency transport services after the company stopped charging about $395,000 a year to help fund its EMS operations.

Instead, the company began charging its patients.

“Unlike the majority of cities in the Valley, this partnership does not burden the taxpayer at large as it does not utilize city tax dollars,” Lopez stated. “Thus, Harlingen residents are covered by top-tier emergency medical services while not paying for said services unless residents use them. This truly is a win-win-win outcome.”

Background

In 2021, during months of heated debate, members of the city’s past commission were considering scraping STEC’s exclusive rights clause to allow other companies to help the agency offer residents non-emergency transport service.

I’m pleased that the city of Harlingen and STEC continue their partnership for another three years. STEC provides quality ambulance service. They are critical to the Harlingen health care system.”

In response to the push to allow outside companies into town, STEC officials have argued the lucrative non-emergency transports help them fund emergency ambulance runs.

If competition eats into the company’s revenue, officials warned they could return to charging the city as much as $395,000 a year to help fund EMS services.

In 1979, city leaders founded STEC to provide ambulance service in town.

Today, the nonprofit provides ambulance service to several cities across most of Cameron County, including San Benito.

About five years ago, STEC boosted its rates to range from $795 for basic life support to $1,220 in the area where about half its patients are on Medicare and Medicaid, which reimburses about a third of billings, company officials said.

Editor’s note: This story was updated for clarity.