Posts Tagged Trace Ambulance

Tinley Park receives huge bill from previous EMS provider (more)

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

Tinley Park is being sued over $492,000 its former ambulance contractor claims it is owed from the village.

Tinley officials have adamantly denied owing Trace Ambulance any money for past services while Trace previously billed Tinley for $492,000. A Will County court may end up deciding who is right in a controversy that has been simmering since summer 2014, when Tinley Park dropped longtime vendor Trace Ambulance for New Lenox-based Kurtz Ambulance.

Christopher Vandenberg, president of the company based in Tinley Park, said Trace “attempted for several months” to reach an agreement with the village, but Tinley “continued to deny that any amount was due to Trace.”

“Unfortunately, because the Village was unwilling to even acknowledge that any amounts were owed, we were left with no choice but to initiate the litigation to recover the amounts we were contractually due,” Vandenberg said in an email.

Dave Niemeyer, Tinley’s Village Manager, said the village is “vigorously defending this claim” but declined further comment.

In court documents, Tinley Park has denied owing Trace any money and denied that Trace complied with all its contractual obligations. The lawsuit was filed in Will County earlier this year. At a Friday hearing, a Will County judge scheduled status hearing in the case for Jan. 5.

The lawsuit asks for a judge to declare that Tinley “is obligated to compensate Trace pursuant to the contract,” Vandenberg said. The lawsuit does not specify how much Tinley allegedly owes, but $492,000 is what the company billed Trace last year, and Tinley refused to pay, Niemeyer said.

Vandenberg, whose relative Jake Vandenberg is a trustee on the village board, said he still hopes “that we can avoid the expense of prolonged litigation and resolve this matter amicably.” Jake Vandenberg said in an email that he has “zero financial interest” in the ambulance company and has not participated in any board discussions about Trace or any litigation it is involved in with the village.

The financial dispute began last summer, after Tinley awarded Kurtz a contract worth an estimated $3.7 million through July 2018. Tinley sought a new ambulance contract in spring 2014, and Kurtz and Trace were the only competitors.

Trace contends its expired deal with Tinley said the village would pay $200 for each hour the town required more than the number of ambulances stipulated in the contract. After Tinley Park dropped Trace, the company tallied those hours since May 2010 and sent the village a final bill totaling $492,206.

The village received its final bill from Trace less than two weeks after Kurtz took over. In a written response to Trace’s invoice last summer, Tinley Park Treasurer Brad Bettenhausen said the village was surprised, “as we had not been previously advised such charges existed.”

“It would be expected that had such charges arisen, they would have been brought (to) the village’s attention and billed at regular intervals over the course of the contract period, with such billing expected to occur no less than annually,” Bettenhausen wrote the company at the time. “No such notice or billing of such charges has occurred” before the bill.

The town denied Trace’s bill and also questioned its accuracy, saying it could find no record that it had requested the additional service.

Switching vendors was a contentious process for the village.

The first signs of conflict emerged at a public safety meeting in May 2014, when village officials revealed the Kurtz bid had come in significantly lower than Trace’s. Trace executives warned that the health care industry is undergoing many changes and changing vendors would be a risk.

Ultimately, Tinley officials said they made the switch because Trace’s proposal was 21 percent more expensive than Kurtz’s.

Trace shares a long history with Tinley, having served as the village’s ambulance provider since 1979 except for a brief interruption in the 1990s, officials previously said.

thanks Dan

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Tinley Park receives huge bill from previous EMS provider

The Chicago Tribune has an article about a bill from Trace Ambulance to the Village of Tinley Park.

Tinley Park severed its 35-year relationship with a local ambulance provider this summer in a move that officials said will save the town money. But less than two weeks after the contract ended, the village received a final, shocking bill from Trace Ambulance for nearly $500,000.

The money was for fees the company typically waived in the past, Trace President Christopher Vandenberg said. “I think it’s clear as day that we’re owed the money,” he said.

The village has refused to pay, and officials have declined to comment on the dispute, citing the potential for litigation.

“We do not believe that Trace is or ever was entitled to any additional compensation for these claimed amounts,” Tinley Park Treasurer Brad Bettenhausen wrote in a letter to the company obtained by the Tribune through an open records request.

The financial standoff began in July, shortly after Tinley Park dropped its ambulance service provider and gave a contract worth $3.7 million through July 2018 to a competitor. The competitor, Kurtz Ambulance in New Lenox, had a bid 21 percent lower than what Trace had bid, officials said. Trace contends its expired deal with Tinley said the village would pay $200 for each hour the town required more than the number of ambulances stipulated in the contract. After Tinley Park dropped Trace, the company tallied those hours since May 2010 and sent the village a final bill totaling $492,206.

That Aug. 12 invoice hasn’t gone over smoothly with town officials. In a written response to Vandenberg’s invoice, Bettenhausen said the village was surprised by the amount, “as we had not been previously advised such charges existed.” “It would be expected that had such charges arisen, they would have been brought (to) the village’s attention and billed at regular intervals over the course of the contract period, with such billing expected to occur no less than annually,” Bettenhausen said. “No such notice or billing of such charges has occurred” before the bill.

The town denied Trace’s bill and also questioned the accuracy of the charges, saying it could find no record that it had requested the additional service.

On Sept. 5, Vandenberg wrote back to the village reiterating Trace’s demand for payment. Bettenhausen again denied the request, saying Trace has never claimed to have been entitled to any additional compensation for providing backup ambulances. Vandenberg said his company had agreed to “waive” the charge in the past as part of contract negotiations.

The first signs of conflict emerged at a public safety meeting in May, when village officials revealed that the Kurtz bid had come in “significantly” lower than Trace’s.

Vandenberg and Brian Dolan, an executive with Trace’s parent company, attended that meeting and took the uncommon step of warning the village at a public meeting that dropping the company could be risky. Trace served as the village’s ambulance provider since 1979, except for a brief interruption in the 1990s, Vandenberg said at the time.

Vandenberg also said Tinley officials had approached Trace during negotiations for the now-expired deal and asked for cost cuts because of the sluggish economy, which Trace accommodated.

The village’s decision to hire Kurtz, made at a July 1 Village Board meeting, proved controversial. Some residents and Trace employees slammed trustees for dumping a local business that knows the streets.

thanks Dan

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Tinley Park changes EMS provider

An article in the TribLocal outlines a vote in Tinley Park to change providers for EMS.

Tinley Park trustees voted Tuesday night to drop the village’s longtime ambulance services provider in favor of a new company, a move village officials said would save the village about $800,000 over the life of the contract.

A new agreement, between Kurtz Ambulance Service and Tinley Park, is worth $3,758,531 and lasts four years from Aug. 1 through July 31, 2018. Kurtz will replace Tinley Park’s current provider, Trace Ambulance.

Under the agreement, Tinley Park will see an increase in ambulances dedicated to the village from four to five during peak service hours, Public Safety Chairman Brian Maher said. All ambulances servicing the village will also be required to be equipped with GPS systems.

“We’re getting a more sophisticated system with Kurtz in terms of tracking ambulances,” Maher said, noting that village officials will be able to pull up each ambulance’s location under the new agreement. That capability would not be there with Trace, Maher said.

More than 5,000 emergency calls for service come in to Tinley Park each year, Emergency Management Agency Director Pat Carr has said.

Kurtz Ambulance Service provides ambulance services to 26 different communities around the Chicagoland region, Kurtz COE Tom Vana said. Vana said his company would give hiring preference to paramedics currently working in the village and said it had already received over 40 resumes from locals waiting to see if Kurtz received the contract.

Through its family and management team, Trace has been the town’s ambulance provider since 1979 except for one brief interruption, Trace President Christopher Vandenberg told the village’s Public Safety Committee earlier this year. At that meeting, Vandenberg reminded village officials that the one time Tinley Park went with another company in the 1990s the vendor went bankrupt.

Trace Ambulance is based in Tinley Park.

One woman stood up to question the board’s commitment to local businesses in light of the ambulance contract situation.

“As a board, as a village, we preach shop Tinley Park,” the resident said. “We’re sitting with an ambulance company that has given us great service over the years yet we’re willing to throw that away?”

After the meeting, Maher said the village has a policy that it will select the local vendor in situations where there is a 5 percent difference between proposals. But that was not the case between Kurtz and Trace.

“I can’t justify paying 21 percent more just because the company is here in Tinley,” Maher said.

thanks Dennis

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Tinley Park reviewing options for EMS

The Chicago Tribune has an article about the Tinley Park officials examining options for EMS coverage.

Tinley Park officials are exploring several options for ambulance service once the village’s contract with Trace Ambulance expires April 30. Under the current contract, Tinley Park pays approximately $600,000 a year to Trace Ambulance to staff four ambulances in town during most of the day, according to Emergency Management Agency Director Pat Carr. The village receives more than 5,000 emergency calls for service a year, Carr said.

In addition to the $600,000 paid by the village, Trace handles billing of patients for ambulance service, Carr said. Tinley Park does not collect any of that revenue, Carr said.

Village officials plan to issue a request for proposal for ambulance services in the near future, possibly at the April 1 Tinley Park Village Board meeting, Carr said.

Village officials are also considering whether to add a fifth ambulance to the contract between 6 a.m. and midnight, Tilton said. Having four ambulances in town hasn’t caused any issues in the past, he said, but the village would like to know what having a fifth ambulance would cost, especially as Tinley’s demographics change and the population ages.

Mayor Ed Zabrocki said the village’s dealings with Trace have been positive in the past but said the village is considering all options.

In its call for proposals, the village is planning to set minimum standards to ensure that only qualified bidders are applicants, including having provided a minimum of 18 months of continuous service within the last three years to another town with a population of at least 35,000, Carr said.

Trace Ambulance, [is] based in Tinley Park. Chris Vandenberg, president of Trace Ambulance, said the company has been servicing Tinley Park off and on since the 1960s and the company plans to make a bid.

thanks Dan

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EMS Box Alarm for Deck Collapse in Tinley Park 7-27-13

This from Dylan Konchan:

Tinley Park | EMS Box Alarm | 167th St & Beverly Ave | Deck Collapse with mutiple injuries EMS Box on box#200, Trace Ambulance, Orland, Oak Forest, and Thornton where there with ambulances and trucks.

 

Orland Fire Protection District

Dylan Konchan photo

Orland Fire Protection District

Dylan Konchan photo

Tinley Park Fire Department

Dylan Konchan photo

Trace Ambulance Co

Dylan Konchan photo

WGNTV has a brief article with video HERE.

More than a dozen people were injured last night when a deck collapsed at a home in south suburban Tinley Park.It happened at a house in the 16700 block of Beverly Avenue at about 9:15pm Saturday.Neighbors say a birthday party was being held at the home and there were about 35 people on the deck when it broke away from the house and collapsed.Tinley Park Fire Department officials say 14 people were transported to local hospitals.They say the deck pulled away from the rear of the house and fell down.    Adults and children were on the deck at the time.   A neighbor says there was a lot of screaming and chaos.  He saw several people with bleeding injuries but no one was trapped in the accident.

 

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