Following around three months of discussion and negotiations, private ambulance service Allegiance Mobile Health will take over as Pflugerville's new EMS provider.
At a June 14 meeting, Pflugerville City Council approved a two-year EMS contract with Allegiance.
The motion passed in a 4-2 vote, with Council Member Rudy Metayer and Mayor Victor Gonzales voting no. Mayor Pro Tem Doug Weiss was not present for the vote.
Prior to selecting Allegiance for EMS, the city was engaged in negotiations with both Allegiance and Travis County Emergency Services District No. 2.
Throughout discussions on selecting a replacement for previous provider Acadian Ambulance Services, council members have maintained that eventually transitioning to a city-run EMS program is a priority.
Several city officials agreed that priority was the deciding factor in choosing Allegiance over ESD 2.
At a recent joint meeting between Pflugerville City Council and the ESD 2 Board of Commissioners, ESD 2 officials expressed reluctance to commit to helping initiate a transition to a city-run EMS.
"Transition doesn’t seem to be a long-term goal for [ESD 2] as it is for us," Council Member Ceasar Ruiz said. “We don’t have time to continue playing around with these games any longer."
Ruiz said Allegiance representatives indicated during negotiations that they were "more than happy" to work with the city on a transition plan.
Metayer said he voted no because he was hesitant to choose a private provider over a public one, a concern that Gonzales echoed.
However, Council Member Jim McDonald said selecting Allegiance now would help establish a public EMS department in the long run.
"I feel that going with the private entity affords us the path to a municipal entity," McDonald said.
Allegiance will take over the city's ambulance services from Acadian's on July 1, two weeks before the company's contract expires on July 13, according to city staff.
Until either party chooses to alter or end it, the contract with Allegiance is set to automatically renew for another year upon completion of the initial two-year period and every year thereafter.
