BUFFALO, N.Y. — As Buffalo Common Council members continue to ask questions about the quality of the ambulance service the city is receiving, a critical piece of EMS oversight has not met for years.
It appears the Emergency Medical Services Board has not met for years, and no one is sure who is even on it.
"It could have been 2017," said Fillmore District Councilmember Mitch Nowakowski. "I'm kind of on a goose chase to look at documents of what was last submitted, who made up that board, what did they talk about, or what did they work on when they did convene?"
According to the city's website, there is no record of the Emergency Medical Services Board meeting since 2015, which is as far back as digital archives of council activities go.
The city charter mandates the existence of an EMS board and the mayor, "Mayor shall appoint an Emergency Medical Services Board to consist of at least six members and not more than 10 members, each of whom shall serve for a term of three years without compensation."
The board also has to meet on the third Thursday of every month--but that hasn't happened, at least according to public records, in nearly a decade.
The EMS board is also required to provide the common council with a monthly report in which "all matters concerning ambulance service, administration of this chapter and any amendments thereto which it may deem necessary and advisable."
Those reports, according to public records, haven't been filed.
2 On Your Side reached out to a spokesperson for Mayor Brown to find out more information about the EMS board, but have not yet received a response.
Sources tell WGRZ that at one point Rural Metro, which was acquired by AMR, had a representative on the board, but the sources believe that predates the acquisition in 2016.
This comes as the council finance committee is expected to hear from AMR representatives at their meeting on September 10.
Councilmember Mitch Nowakowski also says that the failure of the city to secure a new contract with AMR has left millions of dollars worth of franchise fees uncollected by the city.
"If the city was collecting the fee that it had originally had in previous agreements, it would have totaled about $2.3 million," Nowakowski said. "My real question for why the AMR is operating without a contract is really to City Hall and to see who is responsible for negotiating that contract."
AMR previously told 2 On Your Side that it had responded to an RFP issued by the city for ambulance service in 2021. In October 2021, AMR was informed by Fire Commissioner William Renaldo that they had been awarded a contract and were asked to provide a draft of an agreement with the city.
AMR says they never heard back from the city regarding the contract.
AMR also points out, according to a statement, that they are against any new contract that mandates an annual franchise fee:
"The annual fee was a contractual requirement in the legacy agreement with the City of Buffalo that ended when the contract expired in September 2020.
American Medical Response (AMR) has been consistently transparent that we would not enter into a new agreement with the City of Buffalo that imposed an annual fee, as we are working hard daily to address not only first responder shortages but also inflationary pressures including increased costs for supplies, fuel, etc.
Instead of an annual fee, which is now a rare and outdated practice that takes money away from EMS improvements, AMR has proposed a series of service enhancements to improve care locally, like our award-winning Earn While You Learn program and propriety Nurse Navigation program. Based on our observations throughout the country, the funding of these service enhancements creates a greater impact on improving the local EMS system"
AMR officials, along with Fire Commissioner Renaldo are expected to attend the Finance Committee meeting of the council on Tuesday morning.