Two emergency medical services companies have bid on the new contract for the city’s ambulance services, but only one will come out a winner. So in the run-up to the decision to be announced at the Jan. 21 city council meeting, both organizations are saying they are the ones for the job.
Who to give the pact to will be announced when the first resolution on the agenda comes up, a one-sentence description calling for “awarding a contract for emergency medical services and emergency medical dispatch services to —, the low bidder, for a one-year period commencing — in the amount of/not to exceed $ —.”
McCabe Ambulance Services, Inc. has been the contractor of choice for decades, but with the current financial condition of the city, the administration of Bayonne Mayor James Davis requested to rebid the contract, with McCabe Ambulance obliging.
McCabe had previously received an annual subsidy of $600,000 from the city, officials said, but is no longer requesting it. That figure is in addition to money received from patients themselves for the ambulance calls.
McCabe had been criticized in the past for charging Bayonne for its service, yet providing it for no charge to neighbor Jersey City.
When the city put up the contract for rebid at the Oct. 15 council meeting, a city official said that the hope was the bid would be $0 for the city’s payment to the contractor, with the contractor making its money from patients’ individual healthcare insurance companies’ payments or their own payments.
The contract will now either go back to McCabe, partnering with CarePoint Health, owners of Bayonne Medical Center, or the Jersey City Medical Center, affiliated with the St. Barnabas Health Care system.
Mickey McCabe, founder and owner of the ambulance service, believes for many reasons that when the committee formed by the city to evaluate the bids makes its decision, his company should be retained.
“McCabe’s is hopeful that we will fare well in the process,” he said on Jan. 16. “We hope that when the council members receive the results of the analysis they will look favorably upon McCabe.”
McCabe said his company has served the city for 42 years and would like to serve it for many more. Among his reasons were his company’s vast knowledge of the city and its people, its commitment to Bayonne, and the number of McCabe employees – more than half – who live here.
He also talked about his company’s history in the city when it came to McCabe’s role in natural disasters. When Hurricane Sandy struck, the company was a major partner with the city in the days that immediately followed, establishing a help center at the Nicholas Oresko School on 24th Street and staffing it with emergency medical technicians for six days after the storm.
“Over 42 years, we’ve been involved with every blizzard — 15 of them – and we’ve been involved with every power outage – at least six,” McCabe said.
McCabe said events in the city last week, with a major fire on Broadway, an overturned car on the Boulevard, and the water main break and resulting problems citywide – all of which his company was involved with – pointed to what McCabe Ambulance has meant to the city.
“But you can’t help but go back to Hurricane Sandy,” he said. “That was the ultimate test of the resources of our agency. We had every request for service imaginable.”
The Jersey City Medical Center declined to be interviewed for this story, instead releasing a statement through Director of Public Affairs Mark Rabson on Jan. 15.
In that statement, the medical center said that following the city of Bayonne’s request for proposal for a provider of emergency medical services, it submitted its bid to provide the EMS and dispatch services.
“For over 100 years, our organization has been providing prompt, professional pre-hospital care to the residents, workers and visitors of Hudson County,” the statement said. “JCMC EMS is a fast-paced and dynamic service and one of the largest and busiest EMS systems in the state.”
“We hope the vote is yes for McCabe.” – Mickey McCabe
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It also stated that the JCMC EMS currently responds to more than 90,000 incidents per year.
“If chosen, we look forward to providing the highest level of service to all of the residents and businesses in Bayonne,” the statement concluded.
McCabe said he is optimistic about the outcome of the decision.
“It’s really apples to apples in regard to the two applicants,” he said. “We totally respect the EMS of the Jersey City Medical Center; we’ve worked with them for years.”
“But this has to deal with organizational management, focus, and commitment,” McCabe said. “You need to look at where you’re most comfortable and where you feel the citizens are best protected. We hope the vote is yes for McCabe.”
Joseph Passantino may be reached at JoePass@hudsonreporter.com.