Southwest, clearly, has been skeptical of the "enhancement" game even while Cantelme has perfected the art of playing it. Last year, Southwest filed several protests, arguing the Scottsdale contract was encouraging Medicare fraud. And before Chandler yanked its request for proposals, Southwest also wrote letters to that city, suggesting the same thing.
"We're strictly regulated by the state and by federal Medicare laws," says Southwest spokesman Josh Weiss. "When a city asks us to do something we're not allowed to do, we're stuck in a no-win situation."
Giulio Sciorio
PMT Ambulance, led by former union honcho Pat Cantelme, won the Scottsdale contract in part by offering the city an attractive set of perks.
Workers at Southwest Ambulance fought to keep their turf in Chandler, but lost half the city. Now they're locked in a bitter battle to hold ground in Tempe.
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In a clear jab at Southwest's competitors, Weiss suggests that PMT knows that — and may have purposefully offered "enhancements" that go beyond the rules, knowing it won't have to ante up once regulators take a look.
"We don't think it's fair to win a bid by offering things we know the Department of Health Services is going to deny," Weiss says.
PMT spokeswoman Michelle Angle did not return calls for comment.
Chandler officials seem suspicious that at least one of the companies may have been lobbying behind the scenes to get the contracts thrown out.
In a letter to both companies dated October 27, Chandler assistant chief Clark requested that each cough up any correspondence they've had with the health department about the contract, as well as any analyses they've prepared of how enhancements may affect their bottom line.
And, Clark added sternly, the companies better be prepared to fight to spend money on Chandler's behalf.
If the health department declares its decision final, Clark wrote, "I expect you to appeal that determination."
Although it's the situation in Chandler that's heating up, that isn't the only Valley city that stands to miss out on "enhancements" — and that may be headed for a showdown with the health department.
After years of being served by Southwest, Tempe is now in the process of evaluating proposals from both companies. And, behind the scenes, its actions suggest a willingness to start a fight, just like the one in Chandler.
Both ambulance companies and their supporters have been pouring money into Tempe in recent years.
City records show that, in the past year, City Councilman Ben Arredondo alone has accepted a war chest of contributions: $2,100 from PMT's top brass and their family members, $1,800 from Southwest employees, and another $1,970 from firefighters' unions across the state. And firefighters in Cantelme's old union dumped $2,540 into the coffers of Councilwoman Shana Ellis earlier this year.
But it's unclear whether those contributions will be doing much good.
In August, Tempe Fire Chief Cliff Jones briefed the Tempe City Council on the fact that his staff was issuing a request for proposals. At that point, Mayor Hugh Hallman suggested that Jones seek an advisory opinion from the Department of Health Services, just to make sure everything was kosher.
Jones declined an interview request; an assistant told New Times that he couldn't talk because proposal evaluations are under way. And Hallman, oddly, says he's asked not to be briefed further on the ambulance issue, because he wants to keep the battle from being fought politically.
But records show that Jones received a response from the health department back in September — and it wasn't good news.
The letter, written by assistant attorney general Kevin Ray, lists several problems with the enhancements that Tempe is requesting. The city, Ray wrote, shouldn't require proposers to pay for a city contract administrator, or a training ambulance, or an administrative medical director. Those are all "additional and unnecessary" costs. So is asking the companies to pay for a new radiometric system for the city.
"The Department intends to closely scrutinize this contract process and future ambulance service contracts to determine if they contain additional and unnecessary costs to the ambulance provider," Ray wrote. "If they do, the Department/Bureau may disallow them."
The letter was a serious indication that Tempe's request for proposals, as written, wouldn't lead to contracts that would pass state muster. Strangely, it doesn't appear to have derailed, or even slowed, the process.
The city did not withdraw its request for proposals. And its evaluation continues on pace.
"I would say at this point, the letter hasn't affected our process one way or another," says Ron Dunham, an assistant city attorney. "We are aware of the letter, of course, as are both ambulance companies. But we just decided to keep going with our process."
And if that seems crazy, well, the ambulance fight in Tempe isn't close to being over. As recent events in Chandler have shown, it might not even be over after Tempe gets a contract signed — or even starts hiring more firefighters.
