If competition for non-emergency ambulance service is good …
I'm sure the taxpayers of Henderson are pleased to hear their City Council thinks there should be more competition in the ambulance business. That's the only reason, we're told, the city quietly repealed an ordinance requiring ambulance companies to have accreditation and then awarded a business license to three city employees to operate an ambulance company.
City Councilman Steve Kirk was quoted in today's paper as saying he doesn't blame the only ambulance company now operating in Henderson for being upset. "They don't want the competition," he said. "It doesn't change the fact that there needs to be competition."
The new license will allow the two competing companies to handle non-emergency medical transports only, because the city fire department operates the only ambulances permitted to handle emergency calls.
Since competition is good, when will the city of Henderson seek bids for ambulance companies to handle emergency medical calls? Even the firefighters could bid, since privatizing would eliminate many of their $100,000-a-year jobs.
