During discussions this week to realign the county’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) response zones and agreements throughout the county, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors endorsed a path to allow Bell’s Ambulance to continue serving the north county communities that the private company has been serving since 1956.
If finalized, Bell’s will have to agree to a formal franchise contract that would add extra reporting and data collection requirements, increased transparency of operations and a condition that the agreement could not be transferred if the business is sold. The agreement would be for five years, with a potential additional five-year extension, subject to performance reviews.
North county supervisor James Gore quickly won the support of his colleagues on the board during their weekly public meeting on Tuesday. More than a dozen members of the public spoke in support of the family-owned ambulance and paramedic company. Healdsburg resident Brian Kreck, a volunteer EMT, offered a petition supporting Bell’s continued operations that he said included 2,000 names. Healdsburg Fire Chief Jason Boaz also vocalized support for Bell’s, citing its “very high level of service.”
If the supervisors had agreed to a county staff’s top recommendation to create a single Exclusive Operating Area, including the north county zone, the future of Bell’s would have been jeopardized, because Bell’s owners had previously announced they would not be interested in operating in a larger area. County staff acknowledged “Bell’s ability to properly service this (expanded) territory under a full performance contract is uncertain.”
“I’m sure they do a great job,” said District 2 Supervisor David Rabbitt, a member of an ad hoc committee that has been studying EMS services and revisions to Exclusive Operating Agreements throughout the county. He said completing a formal contract for services with Bell’s would “bring the provider into compliance” and add additional oversight.
Pam Bell Simmons, an owner of Bell’s, told the supervisors she would agree to renew negotiations for a franchise agreement, following previous talks that were halted in 2018 when the county broadened its scope to look at other parts of the county and involve many more stakeholders, including government agencies and fire departments.
“We are not asking the county for any money, just the opportunity to continue to serve our community as we have been doing, no matter who they are or what they need,” she said.
Unlike public fire and EMT agencies that receive tax funds, Bell’s Ambulance derives its operating revenues from patients they serve or private insurance reimbursements. Bell’s has never had a written contract with the county but operates under the California Health and Safety Code, the “EMS Act,” that all Advanced Life Service (ALS) providers must comply with. Because it has provided uninterrupted paramedic and ambulance services since at least 1981, Bell’s is eligible to be “grandfathered” and allowed to continue operations as a private company. Since its beginnings with a single ambulance, the company now has five ambulances and a staff of 25-35 full and part-time employees.
