Del City Picks New Ambulance Service, Added Cost To Come Through Utility Bills

Monday, the city council of Del City voted in approval of a one-year agreement with Pafford EMS to provide ambulance services. 

The contract comes with an added subsidy of $30,000 a month, which will be passed along to city utility bills. The city clerk estimated it would amount to $5 a month added to each residential account.  

The subsidy does not cover patient fees. 

Pafford has staffed one ambulance in the city since February. Previously, Del City had an agreement with Midwest Medical until response times began to lag. 

“It got to a point where we, as a city, had to do something temporarily to kind of regroup,” said Del City Fire Chief Brandon Purcell. “We started seeing increased wait time from about July through December. But there were six documented occasions where we had no ambulance coming.”

Midwest Medical, which has since been acquired by SSM Health, was one of the companies vying for the position of ambulance provider in Del City, along with Pafford EMS and Lifeguard Ambulance Service. 

Purcell presented each option to the city council Monday and supported Pafford EMS, which included a guarantee of two ambulances always stationed in Del City and a third from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

“A $3, $4, $5 increase on a utility bill for a dedicated ambulance, in my opinion, is well worth it,” he said.