Malik Evans, the mayor of Rochester, is pushing for an extension of the city-AMR deal

Rochester, New York – In addition to fresh suggestions, Rochester Mayor Malik Evans is recommending an extension of the contract between the city and American Medical Response (AMR), which is set to expire soon. Residents of Rochester can currently receive emergency assistance from AMR.

The present agreement ends on November 30. The revised version, which is often referred to as an amendment, would keep its services available in Rochester until 2026. Additionally, three possible renewals of two years each are included. In a 2019 call for proposals, AMR, operating under the parent company Global Medical Response, was the only eligible response.

“Over the last two years, 55 cities have lost their ambulance services. We don’t want that to happen in Rochester so making sure that we get a renewal, an extension of a contract with an ambulance service, is absolutely critical,” said Mayor Malik Evans.

The city declared last year that it planned to increase funding for emergency medical services (EMS) in response to recommendations from a 2021 study that assessed Rochester’s EMS.
The Fitch assessment claims that Rochester’s current emergency response plan calls for the fire department to handle up to 30% of all community requests for EMS responses, almost all of which are handled by AMR.

“We’ve looked at things that the city can do to actually take some of the stress off the ambulance services – so how can you work with the fire department,” said Evans.

Tim Frost oversees AMR’s Western New York region as regional director. He claimed that the emergency response mechanism is complicated overall. Additionally, he stated that AMR and the City have been closely collaborating on the new contract proposal for the previous few months.

“I really appreciate one of the comments in Mayor Evan’s press release yesterday (Tuesday) – and that is community education, community engagement and the idea of making sure the community understands what’s available to them,” Frost said.

A provision in the contract revision that reiterates the expectation of fair treatment for all individuals under their care is also included in the mayor’s proposal. This was done in reaction to an event that happened on November 30, 2023, when AMR emergency medical technicians demanded that a city resident who was suffering breathing problems get out of their ambulance and head to the hospital. Later on, that patient passed away.

The City Council has received the mayor’s proposed contract for evaluation.