2 ambulances in Monroe pressed into service early

4/2/2005

MONROE - Two ambulance companies began providing emergency transports yesterday afternoon in Monroe County as the area's previous ambulance, Hart Medical EMS, folded its operations sooner than expected.

ProMedica Continuing Care Service Corp. of Toledo is operating south of the River Raisin; American Medical Response of Greenwood Village, Colo., is providing service north of the river, county officials said.

The two firms were pressed into service to fill the void left when the owner of Hart Medical EMS announced earlier this week that he could no longer keep his fledgling operation viable. Richard Levine had said he hoped to keep Hart operating until next week.

ProMedica and AMR have agreed to provide ambulance service to the county for 90 days to allow the Monroe County Emergency Medical Authority time to solicit bids for a permanent countywide provider.