Calcasieu Parish Police Jury

Parish of Calcasieu, Louisiana

Request-for-Proposals (RFP)

Exclusive Provision of

Emergency and Non-Emergency Ambulance Service

 Section I – Summary and Instructions

A)    The Office of the Administrator of the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury is receiving proposals for exclusive provision of emergency and non-emergency ambulance service within the Parish.

B)     Ambulance service in the Parish is regulated by Chapter 15, Article V of the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury Code of Ordinances, which is included as Attachment 1 for reference.  Any company interested in submitting a proposal for this solicitation should read this ordinance thoroughly.  Per the ordinance, the service area for ambulance provision shall be all unincorporated areas of the Parish plus the City of Lake Charles, which has given the Police Jury authority to enforce the Police Jury’s ambulance ordinance in Lake Charles through a joint services agreement (see Attachment 2).  The service area is subject to recognition of West Calcasieu-Cameron EMS as the designated emergency ambulance provider for a portion of the Parish as stipulated under Section 15-155 of the ordinance, and as shown on Attachment 3 (map).

C)    The provider selected will be required to execute a contract with the Police Jury for an exclusive franchise for emergency and non-emergency ambulance service.  This contract shall be for an initial term of five (5) years, with an option to renew for one additional five (5) year term by mutual consent.

D)    Calcasieu Parish is located in Southwest Louisiana, and encompasses an area of 1,095 square miles.  Attachment 3 is a map of Calcasieu Parish, which shows the service areas for ambulance provision in accordance with the ordinance.  Two copies of the map are provided.  The map includes population and average daily E-911 emergency ambulance call volume for the service areas.  You may contact the Calcasieu Parish E-911 Communications District directly at 337-439-9911 for more detailed information on call volumes for specific areas.  Demographic information on Calcasieu Parish can be found on the Police Jury’s website.  Go to www.cppj.net and click on “Demographics” on the home page.

E)     Companies/organizations interested in submitting a proposal must provide the information requested under Section III – Request-for-Proposal Submittal Requirements.  Proposals shall be submitted no later than Thursday, April 10, 2003, at 5:00p.m. to the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury, Office of the Administrator, 1015 Pithon Street, Lake Charles, Louisiana, 70601; mailing address, P. O. Box 1583, Lake Charles, Louisiana, 70602.  Proposals must include a completed “Notice of Request-for-Proposals” form, which is provided with this packet.  Please provide an original and nine (9) copies of the proposal.  Proposals should be sealed and clearly marked “Proposal for Ambulance Service.”  A timeline of events for the RFP is included under Section IV – Evaluation of Proposals.

Section II – Criteria for Selection

The criteria to be used in selecting an exclusive provider of ambulance service shall include the following items as per Section 15-139 of the ambulance ordinance:

A)    Experience of the company in rendering ambulance service to the public. (25 points)

B)     Commitment to clinical performance (20 points)

C)    Qualifications of personnel (15 points)

D)    Commitment to quality in operational areas such as fleet maintenance, communications and dispatch, and disaster response (15 points)

E)     Financial strength, including accounts receivable management (15 points)

F)     Community involvement (10 points)

Section III – Request-for-Proposal Submittal Requirements

Companies submitting a proposal in response to this solicitation must include the information requested below.  Please be as complete as possible and include any supporting documentation you feel to be pertinent.  Where documentation relative to a specific requirement is incomplete or silent, it shall be assumed that the applicant is deficient.  It is in the applicant’s best interest to submit a complete and accurate proposal.

Company Information

1)        Name and address of company submitting the proposal

2)        Contact person for the proposal

3)        List names, addresses, and share of ownership of all legal owners of the company.

4)        Provide an organizational chart depicting the company’s personnel infrastructure.  List financial interests of the organization or parent company in other related businesses.

5)        Describe the emergency and related services currently provided by your company.

6)        Provide a copy of a valid current license from the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, or appropriate agency if the license is from another state.

A)    Experience in rendering ambulance service

1)        Document the number of ambulance unit transports conducted by your company in the past twelve (12) months (use the format below):

2)        Describe your organizations experience in providing public emergency (911) type ALS services to populations and/or areas of comparable size to Calcasieu Parish.

3)        Provide references from other areas of operation that could verify performance claims.  Please include the name, title, organization, and telephone number of the public officials who may be contacted.

4)        Submit certification and documentation of CAAS accreditation. (If a subcontractor is proposed, their CAAS accreditation documentation must be submitted as well.)

B)      Commitment to clinical performance

1)      Describe your company’s methods for monitoring care provided by your staff and describe your methods of identifying problems and correcting them.

2)      Describe your in-service education program and methods you employ to maintain the highest of professional clinical standards.

3)      Describe any program you may have to measure performance of employees, on a continuous basis, especially those involved in pre-hospital care and dispatch operations.

4)      Describe your categorizations of requests for service.

5)      Provide the name of your Medical Director and document his/her credentials.

6)      Describe any management development program you have for your supervisory personnel.

7)      Document the percentage of your professional staff with the following certifications:

a)      First Responder

b)     Basic EMT

c)      Intermediate EMT

d)     Paramedic

8)      Document the percentage of your professional staff with the following certifications:

a)      Basic Life Support (BLS)

b)     Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)

c)      Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support Instructor (ACLSI)

d)     Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS)

e)      Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)

9)      Describe your ongoing driver training program and any program you employ to ensure map reading competency and knowledge of service area geography.

10)  Describe your transport destination protocols and criteria for transport of the patient.

C)    Qualifications of personnel

1)      Provide a list of current employees who would render services in Calcasieu Parish and their years of service, sorted by years of service.  Provide the following information on wage rates for current employees (use the format below). 

2)      Average number of hours worked per week for full time EMT-Paramedic employees.

3)      Average number of hours worked per week for full time EMT-Basic employees.

4)      Have you suffered any strikes, worker slowdowns, or any other concerted job actions by employees within the past five (5) years?  Describe the circumstances and resolution of each incident.

5)      Describe any methods your company has developed to deal with employee turnover.

6)      Describe benefits currently provided to your employees (vacation, sick leave, health insurance, pension plan, 401K, etc.).

7)      Describe existing programs for recruiting, orienting, and training new EMT’s, Paramedics, and dispatchers.  Include a description of any affirmative action policies.

8)      Describe existing programs for providing in-service training to pre-hospital care personnel (including area fire department First Responders, EMT’s, Paramedics, and dispatchers).

9)      Describe your company’s policy(ies) on employee overtime.

10)  Describe your current policy(ies) related to:

a)      Preventative health care

b)     Situations requiring psychiatric debriefing

c)      Counseling/employee assistance programs

D)    Commitment to quality in operations

1)      Describe in detail your company’s system status management plan for twenty-four (24) hour ALS coverage of all the service area.  Include numbers of units to be operated in the service area, locations, hours of coverage, back-up policies, and plans for establishing sub-stations (if any are planned).  Please indicate proposed ambulance locations on one of the service area maps provided.

2)      Describe generally your company’s disaster plan, and describe your ability to respond to unpredictable system overload or declared disaster.

3)      Describe your company’s communications and dispatch system and procedures, and procedures for ensuring twenty-four (24) hour operation of the system.

4)      Describe your fleet maintenance program, specifically addressing how any instance that would render an ambulance unable to respond to or transport a patient would be tracked, improved, and minimized.

E)     Financial strength;  accounts receivable management

1)      Provide an audited financial statement for the company for the immediate past two years.

2)      Provide a statement of disclosure as to whether there are any unsatisfied judgments of record or any potential or pending litigation against the company.  Please include the name, civil action, and court with a brief explanation of the circumstances and allegations surrounding the claim.

3)      Billing and collections

a)      Describe your current policies and procedures related to billing and collections including:

(i)                       Policies regarding acceptance of assignment

(ii)                    Policies regarding installment payments

(iii)      Reminder statement message used

(iv)      Assistance provided patients in processing insurance claims

(v)                     Customer disputes

(vi)                  Collection agencies

(vii)                Any other information, which may help to characterize the nature of your company’s rate setting, billing, and collection practices.

b)     Describe your billing policies with regard to hospital requested transportation for emergency and non-emergency transports.

c)      What is your company’s policy regarding service provided for medically indigent patients?

F)     Community involvement

1)      Describe your company’s ongoing programs for community education and for providing public information relating to emergency medical services.

2)      Describe your company’s policy and experience in other aspects of community involvement.

3)      Describe your company’s policy regarding public standby services for community events.

Section IV – Evaluation of Proposals

A)    An Ad-Hoc RFP Review Committee will be appointed by the Police Jury President for the purpose of evaluating all qualifying proposals and recommending an exclusive provider of ambulance service within the service area.  This committee shall consist of the following representatives:  the chairman and one (1) other member of the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury Ambulance Regulatory Committee; one (1) member of the Communications District Board; one (1) representative of the Calcasieu Parish Medical Society; one (1) public safety representative; one (1) emergency room nurse; and one (1) Board Certified emergency room physician.

B)     Each ambulance service provider submitting a proposal shall have the opportunity to make a presentation to the Ad-Hoc RFP Review Committee in support of its proposal.  Each proposal will be rated by members of the committee based on criteria as defined herein.

C)    During the evaluation process, the committee and/or Police Jury staff may seek further verification of information contained in the proposal.

D)    A projected timeline of events for the RFP process is listed below.

Section V – Requirements and Standards for Ambulance Service

A)    The selected provider must comply with the requirements and standards for ambulance service as contained in the following sections of the ambulance ordinance:

1)      Section 15-143            Availability of services required

2)      Section 15-144            Miscellaneous requirements

3)      Section 15-145            Insurance required

4)      Section 15-146            Operational and equipment requirements

5)      Section 15-147            Ambulance service performance standards

6)      Section 15-148            Daily logs and records

7)      Section 15-149            Responding to emergencies

B)     Attachment 4 is the Response Time Zone Map in place for Calcasieu Parish as referenced in Section 15-147.

C)    The selected provider shall guarantee provision of ambulance service to municipalities in the Parish not currently a part of this RFP who wish to become a part of the service area through a joint services agreement with the Police Jury.

Section VI – Ambulance Service Regulation

A)    The selected provider will be subject to regulation and enforcement of the ambulance ordinance as stated in the following ordinance sections:

1)      Section 15-150            Enforcement authority

2)      Section 15-151            Inspection of ambulances

3)      Section 15-152            Suspension and termination

4)      Section 15-153            Rates

5)      Section 15-154            Penalties for violations

B)     Attachment 5 is the current Calcasieu Parish Schedule of Ambulance Rates as referenced in Section 15-153.

C)    Attachment 6 is the current Calcasieu Parish Schedule of Fines for Violations of the ordinance as referenced in Section 15-154.