CITY OF EL RENO, OKLAHOMA REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS EMERGENCY 911 AMBULANCE SERVICE

Transcription

1 CITY OF EL RENO, OKLAHOMA REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS RFP # For EMERGENCY 911 AMBULANCE SERVICE Pending contract award date January 8, 2019 Contracted Service Beginning May 5, 2019

2 Table of Contents I. INVITATION TO SUBMIT PROPOSALS... 1 Overview of the System Service Area First Responders Dispatch... 2 Parties Responsibilities The City of El Reno Responsibilities Contractor Responsibilities... 2 II. CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS AND CREDENTIALS... 3 Analogues Experience Each proposer shall provide the following:... 3 Documentation of Regulatory Compliance and Litigation... 3 III. OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT PROVISIONS... 4 General Contractor Relationship... 4 Scope of Service... 4 Response Time Requirements... 5 Response Time Exceptions and Exemption Requests... 5 Medical Oversight... 6 Ambulance Fleet... 6 Communication Center... 7 III. ADMINISTRATION... 9 Insurance and Indemnity Provisions... 9 Indemnity and Hold Harmless Provisions Limitation of Damages Sealed Submission... 11

3 Notice to Proposers This RFP does not commit the City of El Reno to award a contract, pay costs incurred in the preparation of a proposal responding to this request, or to procure a contract for service. The City of El Reno reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals received because of this request, or to cancel in part, or in its entirety, the RFP process if the City of El Reno deems it is in the best interest to do so. This RFP shall not be construed to be a low-bid process, although price will play a critical role. The contract, if awarded, will be negotiated with the Proposer who can best meet the City of El Reno s needs as identified in this RFP. The City of El Reno specifically makes no promises or guarantees concerning the number of emergency calls or transports, quantities of patients, or distance of transports that will be associated with this procurement. The City of El Reno has made every effort to provide accurate data and information, but does not guarantee the accuracy of any data included in the RFP. It is in the Proposer s best interest to submit a complete and accurate proposal. Where documentation or response is incomplete or silent, it shall be assumed that the proposal is deficient. Further, it is in the Proposer s best interest to make a proposal that meets the stated requirements contained in this RFP. While Proposers may provide alternatives to the requirements for consideration, failure to comply with all minimum requirements described within the RFP may disqualify proposals. Proposers are invited to submit alternatives to the services described within this RFP, if such alternatives are in the best interests of the City of El Reno. There shall be only one general contractor, under whose auspices the proposal is submitted, and who must assume all liability and responsibility for achieving the performance levels specified in this RFP.

4 I. INVITATION TO SUBMIT PROPOSALS The City of El Reno, Oklahoma, invites experienced and qualified Proposers to submit proposals to provided advanced life support ( ALS ) emergency ambulance services as specified in the document for the entirety of the City of El Reno corporate city limits. One contract award is anticipated under this solicitation. It is the intent of the City of El Reno to award the contract to the most advanced Proposer who provides the goods or service at the best value for the City of El Reno. Written questions and requests for clarification regarding this RFP or Solicitation are to be submitted in writing no later than 5:00 pm December 17, 2018 to: Lindsey Grigg, City Clerk 101 N. Choctaw El Reno, Oklahoma lgrigg@cityofelreno.com Please reference RFP # on all correspondence to City of El Reno. Any oral communications shall be considered unofficial and non-binding. Only written responses to written communication shall be considered official and binding. The City of El Reno reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to determine appropriate and adequate responses to the written comments, questions, and requests for clarification. Overview of the System The City s current ambulance service provider has been the sole emergency 911 Ambulance service for the City of El Reno since 2012.They operate as an independent contractor under a service based contract. The City will contract exclusively with a single provider to operate in a 911 emergency segment. The contractor will have certain market rights, protected by ordinance, and is expected to perform under a performance agreement, and except for any identified subsidy is expected to maximize compensation through its own billing and collection efforts. 1

5 1. Service Area The service area includes the incorporated city limits of El Reno, approximately 80 square miles with a population of 17,510 in First Responders The City of El Reno Fire Department is a paid municipal department, certified as an Emergency Medical Response Agency, and responds automatically to critical EMS calls and other EMS calls when requested by ambulance personnel. 3. Dispatch The City of El Reno s 911 Communication Center provides all emergency dispatch and communications for Fire, Police, and EMS within the City and the surrounding area. The Center currently does not hand off callers to the provider but tracks their responses in the City s CAD system. The City will consider handing off the initial caller to the contractor s call center meeting the requirement in the Communications Sections below. Proposal shall include provisions and cost with both plans. Parties Responsibilities It is the City s intent to offer, at a minimum, a five-year (5) contract in return for state of the art clinically excellent service supported by quality personnel and equipment. The primary source of contract revenue is user fees and dependent on the contractor s ability to reliably collect appropriate compensation in a manner compliant with all State and Federal rules and regulations. In return for excellent service the City intends to protect the market exclusivity through ordinance. 1. The City of El Reno Responsibilities Provide an exclusive contract for the provision of all emergency ambulance services with a sole provider in the City. Participate in an Emergency Services Advisory Board (ESAB) that will include representatives from Police, Fire and City Administration. Regulate rates and fees for ambulance services to the extent allowed by law 2. Contractor Responsibilities Employment of field personnel, managers, and providing ambulances and equipment Supervision and management of the contractor s employees and EMS system performance Development of an internal quality assurance program reporting to the ESAB Participate in the Emergency Services Advisory Board (ESAB) 2

6 Provide medical direction compliant with Oklahoma state rules and regulations Comply with all Federal and State laws and rules in providing ambulance services to the City Provide patient invoicing and collections services Cooperate with established and help create processes to participate in medical audits and complaint investigations Report contract compliance quarterly with a verifiable audit trail and summarize yearly to the City Provide quarterly reports to the City Manager which shall include information on the number of runs, response times, call type analysis, complaint record with resolution, and special activities II. CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS AND CREDENTIALS Analogues Experience Each proposer shall provide the following: 1. Documentation demonstrating that the proposer has experience managing a full service emergency ambulance service in a community with a population of at least 15,000 persons. Information should include a list of communities in which the service is operated, names, addresses, phone numbers and addresses of the Medical Directors and designated public officials with oversight responsibility. 2. Documentation of independently verifiable response time performance, the number of responses provided in each of the last two years. 3. A brief description of the community, its EMS system, and the services provided by the proposer must be included. 4. A minimum of three (3) references that may be contacted where the proposer currently provides full service emergency ambulance service, including contact names, addresses, phone numbers and addresses. Documentation of Regulatory Compliance and Litigation 1. The proposer shall detail any and all regulatory investigations, findings, actions, complaints, and their respective resolutions. 2. Proposer must specifically include details about any and all instances where an emergency (9-1-1) contract was vacated or terminated within the last three (3) years. 3

7 3. Additionally, the proposer must detail the circumstances and resolution for notices of non- compliance. III. OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT PROVISIONS General Contractor Relationship The City intends to hire a single contractor to provide all of the services specified within this RFP. Should a proposer intend to utilize one or more subcontractors to provide any of the contractor s primary responsibilities - including, but not limited to, ambulance response, medical transportation, staffing, training, communications, call center management, protocol development, accounts receivable management, collection activity, fleet or equipment maintenance, or any similar services - the proposer must include detailed information about the subcontractor and its relationship to the proposer to allow the city to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of the subcontractor s proposed role. Copies of all proposed subcontracts should also be included. Should the successful proposer plan to utilize subcontractors, the City will look only to the primary, general contractor to deliver contracted performance. The inability or failure of any subcontractor to perform any duty or deliver contracted results will not excuse the primary contractor from any responsibility under the contract with the City. Scope of Service 1. The contractor will provide all emergency ground ambulance service for the entire population of the coverage area. This shall be accomplished with a minimum of 2 ALS-Paramedic equipped ambulances and appropriate staff. Two (2) units shall be available with equipment and staff 24hrs per day for immediate deployment. 2. The contractor must provide mutual aid agreements/contingency plans in the event the proposer becomes overwhelmed by calls for emergency service, this will include agreements with ground and air medical transport services. 3. All ambulance services will be provided at the Advanced Life Support (ALS)-Paramedic level. Additionally, the contractor must furnish stand-by coverage for special events (dedicated or non-dedicated) requested by ESAB, fire/law enforcement scenes and training events (at request of IC). 4. ALS units shall be staffed with at least two (2) licensed emergency medical services personnel, one (1) of whom shall be at least an EMT-B and one (1) of whom shall be an EMT-Paramedic (EMT-P). The Contractor agrees that the EMT-P must perform and ride as the attendant on all calls requiring advanced life support care. At all times and in all cases each ALS Unit must 4

8 be staffed in accordance with the applicable Federal, State and local laws, rules and regulations. In addition, each ALS Unit must contain the equipment specified under the applicable State law(s), rules and regulations for an ALS Paramedic unit, or the equipment and supplies list provided by the Contractor, whichever is more stringent. The contractor will discuss with Fire Department personnel and medical directors on specific equipment needs for interoperability between agencies to enhance patient care. 5. Currently, first responder support is available in the City via the Fire Department. The proposer will be expected throughout the life of this agreement to work with local officials in assisting in the on-going training and medical direction if requested. Proposer shall resupply Fire Department and hospital supplies used if transport is required. 6. The City of El Reno Fire Department is part of Regions 6 and 8 and has an agreement with the State of Oklahoma Homeland Security to operate a Medium duty REMSS unit that can be deployed anywhere in the state at any time. The contractor will agree to staff and respond with three and no more than four paramedics when requested by the City, One El Reno Fire Department personnel will also respond to drive the unit and assist the paramedics once on scene. Response Time Requirements 1. Compliance is achieved when 90% or more of responses within the City s incorporated limits are achieved by arriving within 6 minutes of dispatch. Dispatch starts from the time a valid location is confirmed and the ambulance service is notified of the incident. 2. Proposer must identify the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) software used and will be required to provide an audit trail for each dispatch as requested including any original stamped times and any manual changes made to Dispatch and EMD records, the proposer must indicate what assistance it will provide the City in achieving EMD certification in its Dispatch Center. Response Time Exceptions and Exemption Requests 1. The contractor shall maintain mechanisms for reserve production capacity to increase production should temporary system overload persist. However, it is understood that from time to time unusual factors beyond the contractor s reasonable control may affect achievement of the specified response time requirement. These unusual factors are limited to unusually severe weather conditions, declared disasters, or periods of unusually high demand for emergency services. 5

9 2. Equipment failures, traffic congestion, ambulance failures, dispatch errors, inability to staff units, and other causes will not be grounds for granting an exception to compliance with the response time requirements. 3. If the contractor thinks that any response or group of responses should be excluded from the compliance calculations due to unusual factors beyond the contractor s reasonable control, the contractor may provide detailed documentation to the city and request that they exclude these runs from response time calculations and late penalties. Medical Oversight The provider must furnish a Medical Director at their expense. The Medical Director will also serve in the same capacity for the City of El Reno EMR, Fire Department and/or Police Department. The Medical Director/contractor must provide a set of protocols for all clinical care, dispatchers, and medical care. The Medical Director shall have the following duties: 1. Develop medical protocols for ambulance and periodically revise same. Medical protocols provide guidance in the patient care, treatment and transportation for emergency medical technicians and paramedics. The protocols should also provide a standard to evaluate patient care and a template for quality improvement. 2. Develop Communication Center protocols and periodically revise the same. Dispatch protocols shall provide guidance for prioritizing the urgency of a response to a request for medical assistance. 3. The Medical Director will periodically evaluate the performance of employees and will oversee the in-service and audit programs to ensure quality. 4. Conduct medical audits of individual cases as requested by the City. Ambulance Fleet Proposers must provide a detailed plan for the management of the ambulance fleet, support vehicles, and equipment. At a minimum, this plan should provide detailed specifications that describe the vehicles and equipment to be used. The City requires that the specified ambulances meet the following minimum 6

10 standards: 1. Minimum fleet size of 150% of proposed peak deployment (2 ambulances). 2. All ambulances must meet Federal Specification KKK-1822 and be certified by the manufacturer to meet these specifications. 3. All ambulances must be specified and constructed to transport two (2) patients, one (1) contractor paramedic, one (1) Fire Department First Responder in the patient compartment, and one (1) family member in the front passenger seat as well as the contractor s driver without exceeding the Original Equipment Manufacturer s specified Maximum Gross Vehicle Weight while fully equipped and fueled. 4. All ambulances shall be equipped with VHF analog/digital (DMR) radios capable of communicating with local fire and law enforcement dispatch. Proposers must fully describe their vehicle maintenance program designed to prevent vehicle malfunctions and critical failures. Communication Center If contractor chooses to furnish and manage ambulance dispatch and communication services, such services shall include, but are not limited to, dispatch personnel, in- service training, quality improvement monitoring, and related support services. The contractor shall utilize a computer-aided dispatch system to record dispatch information for all ambulance requests. The CAD time recording system shall include the date, hour, minutes, and seconds. All radio and telephone communications, including pre-arrival instructions and time track, must be recorded and kept for a minimum of ninety (90) days. The computer-aided dispatch system shall meet the reporting requirements as specified herein. Dispatch Computer 1. The dispatch computer supplied by the contractor shall be capable of the following: a. Electronic data entry of every response on a real time basis b. Prioritization of deployment planning; displaying calls received for runs pending, runs in progress, transfers scheduled up to twenty-four (24) hours in advance, and status of ambulance resources available for service c. Continuous display of unit time in each response status: Automatic display of units exceeding pre-determined time in status criteria for deployment and crew safety. 7

11 d. Immediate recall on any current, previous, or pre-scheduled run for inquiry by date, Incident number, location, or patient name e. On-line, real-time visual display showing a deployment plan and prioritization of area coverage for that time of day and day of week g. Simultaneous and continuous printed logs of deployment h. Security features preventing unauthorized access or retrospective adjustment and full audit trail documentation 2. The contractor s electronic data system must be capable of producing the following reports to be utilized in measuring response time compliance: a. Emergency life-threatening and non-life-threatening response times by priority b. Unscheduled non-emergency and scheduled non-emergency response times by priority c. Out-of-chute response times by crew members d. On-scene times e. Emergency and non-emergency responses by hour and day f. Dispatch personnel response times reports g. Canceled run report h. Demand analysis report 3. In addition, the contractor shall fully complete a manual dispatch card approved by the city for each dispatch of an ambulance when the computer is inoperable. The contractor s personnel, following the resumption of normal service of the CAD system, shall enter manual dispatch cards into the CAD system. 4. Personnel, Staffing and Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Communications call-takers must provide medically appropriate priority dispatch and pre-arrival instructions using Medical Priority Dispatch Systems protocols approved by the city. 5. Medical communications workers shall, at a minimum, be certified in emergency medical dispatch (EMD). The contractor shall provide comprehensive internal orientation and testing encompassing EMD certification, CAD system use, system familiarity, and mapping. 6. The contractor must utilize medical dispatch protocols and pre-arrival instructions approved by the Fellows of the National Academy of EMS Dispatch. The dispatch priorities are subject to change by the Medical Director. 8

12 III. ADMINISTRATION Insurance and Indemnity Provisions Throughout the term of the contract, and any extensions thereof, contractor shall procure, pay for, and maintain the minimum insurance coverage and limits as provided for herein. This insurance shall be evidenced by delivery to entities of certificates of insurance written by one or more insurance companies with an A.M. Best rating of A or better, licensed to do business in the State of Oklahoma and acceptable to the City. These insurance certificates shall list coverage and limits, expiration dates, and terms of policies, and the names of all carriers issuing or reinsuring these policies if policies are layered or quota share arrangements. Insurance requirements shall remain in effect throughout the term of this Agreement. The following coverage shall be provided: 1. Commercial general liability insurance, on an occurrence basis, including but not limited to the following limits unless otherwise stated by exception herein: Each Occurrence: $1,000,000 Personal & Advertising Injury: $1,000,000 Products/Completed Operations $1,000,000 General Aggregate: $3,000,000 Fire Legal Liability: $100, Automobile Liability Insurance shall protect the contractor against claims for bodily injury and/or property damage arising out of the ownership or use of any owned, hired and/or non-owned vehicle with limits of at least $1,000,000 Combined Single Limits. The physical damage to any vehicle of the Contractor, including portable equipment, is the responsibility of the Contractor. 3. Professional medical liability insurance, including errors and omissions, with minimum limits of not less than One Million and 00/100 Dollars ($1,000,000.00) per occurrence and One Million and 00/100 Dollars ($1,000,000.00) annual aggregate. 4. Worker s compensation coverage to statutory limits as required by law; employer s liability insurance of not less than One Million and 00/100 Dollars ($1,000,000.00) bodily injury by incident, and One Million and 00/100 Dollars ($1,000,000.00) bodily injury by disease, for each employee. 5. Umbrella coverage in the amount of at least Ten Million and 00/100 Dollars ($10,000,000.00) shall be provided as additional coverage to all underlying liability policies (including Professional Liability). This policy may be written 9

13 as a Form Following Excess policy. 6. Tail insurance coverage for a period of not less than five (5) years after the termination of this Agreement for any policy written on a claims made basis. All such insurance shall name City of El Reno, OK, their agents and employees as additional insureds, in relation to the General, Auto and Umbrella liability programs outlined above, in amounts equal to the statutory state liability limits. The City must receive at least thirty (30) days prior written notice of any expiration, cancellation, non-renewal, or material change in coverage of contractor s insurance coverage. Nothing shall absolve contractor of this requirement to provide notice. i. The Contractor shall be responsible for any third party dishonesty allegations and may either insure or self-insure. The city will not be liable for any third party dishonesty allegations. ii. The Contractor shall be responsible for any Employment Practices Liability allegations. The city will not be liable for any employment related allegations between the Contractor or their employees" Indemnity and Hold Harmless Provisions 1. Except as limited below, the contractor shall release, hold harmless, and indemnify the city, its officers, elected officials, and employees from all claims, suits, actions, proceedings, judgments, demands, losses, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses, including attorneys fees, of any kind arising directly or indirectly out of any act or omission of the contractor, its employees, subcontractors, or agents in connection with the Agreement. Contractor s indemnification obligations shall not apply to the extent any liability for loss or damage is caused by the sole negligence, gross negligence, or willful misconduct of the city, its officers, or employees. 2. If a claim or legal action covered by these provisions is asserted or brought against the city, the contractor shall pay any and all reasonable legal expenses that the city shall incur in connection with such claim or action. The right to choose which attorneys shall represent the city in any such claim or legal action shall be at the sole discretion of the city; provided, however, the contractor is liable to pay for such legal expenses only to the extent that they are reasonable. The term "legal expenses" as used in this provision shall include, but not be limited to, reasonable attorneys' fees, paralegal and legal support staff expenses, costs of 10

14 arbitration, mediation, expert witnesses, exhibits, reasonable investigations, and reimbursement for all time, expense, and overhead of all city personnel or consultants assisting in the defense of the legal action or in responding to or investigating a claim or demand. Limitation of Damages In no event shall the city be liable to contractor or to any third party for any incidental, indirect, consequential, special, or punitive damages arising out of or relating to the Agreement, including but not be limited to any claims for lost business or profit, regardless of whether the city had been advised of the possibility of such damages. By way of example and not limitation, the city shall not be liable to contractor for any claims of lost business or profit arising out of any finding of breach or declaration of default by the city, even if it is later determined that such finding or declaration was made in error. Sealed Submission Proposers are directed to submit an original, so marked, and five (5) copies of their proposal, signed by a person authorized to bind the proposer and one (1) electronic submission on a thumb drive included with the original submission. All proposals must be turned in by January 2, 2019 at 4pm CST, sealed and labeled on the outside of the sealed container with the following information: CITY OF EL RENO RFP # DO NOT OPEN. Attn: Lindsey Grigg, City Clerk 101 N. Choctaw El Reno, Oklahoma