Banner sues Greeley over ambulance contract

GREELEY — Banner Health sued the city of Greeley in Weld County District Court on Monday, alleging that one of the health care provider’s ambulance units ought to have been awarded a contract to continue as the city’s emergency medical service transport company and asking the court to award the contract to Banner.

The lawsuit lists Banner Health, doing business as North Colorado Medical Center, as plaintiff, and the city of Greeley as defendant, along with former city manager Roy Otto, former city purchasing manager Doug Clapp, and fire chief Brian Kuznik, named to the position in March after 22 years with the department.

The lawsuit was filed under Rule 106, which allows for appeals of decisions by municipal bodies.

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The dispute involves a request for proposals published in mid-April and due in late May. The lawsuit said Banner was one of three finalists, but the contract was awarded to another company in June. Banner filed a protest by June 25, and the city denied that on Aug. 2.

A meeting with city staff produced no change.

The lawsuit said Greeley “considered factors and criteria that were outside the scope of the evaluation factors set forth in the RFP or in the City’s purchasing policies,” contrary to city code, in choosing the new firm.

The names of the other companies aren’t given in the lawsuit and couldn’t be learned. A Greeley Tribune report on Aug. 17 said city negotiations on contract details with the new awardee weren’t finished and according to the city’s public information officer, James Redmond, the new contractor couldn’t be named.

The RFP said the new contract begins Dec. 1.

Banner Health in the article said it was “disappointed with the decision to award the contract to an outside ambulance provider. … Thank you, Greeley, for the privilege of being your trusted health care partner.”

Banner has been Greeley’s EMS vendor since 2012, when it bought a county-owned ambulance provider, which had been an EMS transport for the city since the 1970s. Two five-year contracts had been the basis of the service between Greeley and Banner-owned Banner Health Paramedic Services.

The lawsuit said North Colorado Medical Center has “supported the provision of emergency medical services transport, including ambulance and air medical services in Weld County” since 1999.

The RFP doesn’t give a length or value to the contract. It says the contractor will mainly be paid via “fee-for-service reimbursement of patient charges,” but the RFP’s page for these charges doesn’t give amounts. A second note on payment says the contractor won’t “receive a subsidy from the City” for its services but that nothing prohibits the two parties “from entering into a separate agreement” related to them.

A media report in 2011 — as local officials were considering changes to EMS transport — said Weld County took in about $2 million a year on ambulance service calls from Greeley.

Requests for comment by parties named in the lawsuit, Banner’s attorney Meghan Pound of Caplan and Earnest LLC in Boulder, and Greeley spokesperson James Redmond or acting city manager Raymond Lee were not immediately successful.

The case is being heard by Judge Shannon Lyons; he was appointed to the district court in 2013.

Editor’s Note: Greeley city attorney Doug Marek returned BizWest’s call after this story was published. He said the city hadn’t been formally served with the suit and had no comment at this time.