Empress Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has secured a contract to provide dedicated ambulance and medical services to the City of Newburgh for the next three years. The Newburgh City Council approved the contract during its meeting on April 8.

The city issued requests for proposals seeking vendors to furnish emergency medical and ambulance services, with Empress EMS emerging as the sole respondent. The contract, effective from April 1, 2024, to December 31, 2026, entails a total expenditure of $2.8 million.

According to Empress Executive Director Robert Stuck, the city previously contracted with Mobile Life Support Services for emergency services until Empress acquired the company in June 2023. The existing contract with Mobile Life was set to expire on March 31, 2024, and Empress has since entered into a new agreement effective April 1, 2024.

Stuck explained that the previous agreement with Mobile Life operated under a system status management model, strategically positioning ambulances based on historical data to predict operational demands. Under the new agreement, Empress will assign two ambulances exclusively to serve the city’s 911 volume, aiming to capture previously missed service demands.

Empress retains the facility at 69 Dickson Street previously used by Mobile Life and has retained a majority of Mobile Life’s staff. Two dedicated ambulances stationed at the Dickson Street site, one for Advanced Life Services (ALS) and the other for Basic Life Services (BLS), will operate 24/7.

Additionally, the station maintains six to seven ambulances on standby or deployed elsewhere.

Revenue generation for Empress EMS units occurs through annual city charges and patient/insurance billing for service utilization. The contract specifies that the city will pay $731,250 from April 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, $1.01 million from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025, and $1.06 million from January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2026.

The administrative offices of Mobile Life at 3188 Route 9W in the Town of New Windsor have ceased operations, with services relocated to Empress’s facilities in the City of Poughkeepsie. Ambulances are undergoing rebranding with the Empress logo and signage for deployment in the city and surrounding areas.

Captain Robert Szeli, who has worked at the Dickson Street site for 15 and a half years, emphasized the smooth transition to Empress EMS. Szeli highlighted the reopening of the base’s training room for in-house academies and orientation classes and expressed plans for community engagement events.

Szeli assured the community of continued quality care under Empress EMS, noting the consistency of staff dedication despite organizational changes.

“The name might change, the colors have changed, but the faces have all been the same,” Szeli affirmed. “We’re dedicated to delivering excellent care.”