Health Department cancels ambulance services procurement for Kauaʻi County following protest — and starting over

The Hawaiʻi Department of Health has canceled its selection of Falck Northwest Corp. to provide 911 ground ambulance transport for Kauaʻi and Maui counties — and is starting the process over following a protest by incumbent service provider American Medical Response, which was not selected.

After reviewing the protest, Dr. Kenneth Fink, the state director of health, said on Monday he determined that while the request for contract proposals — issued by the health department’s Emergency Medical Services and Injury Prevention System Branch — may have intended to maintain the current staffing level for advanced life support ground ambulances, that requirement was not clearly included.

Fink concluded this constituted a change in the nature and circumstances of the service being procured, such that Requests for Information should have been issued but were not.

The Maui County Paramedics Association and the Kauaʻi Paramedics Association also said the state had set no minimum level of advanced life support unit coverage in its requests for proposals.

He has directed the procurements to start over, including the issuance of an Request for Information for the services prior to new Request for Proposals being developed.

“I’d like to reassure the residents of Kauaʻi and Maui counties that the next RFPs will be clear that the current ambulance staffing level will be maintained,” Fink said in a press release. “I am accountable for the department, and I apologize for the uncertainty created by the previous RFPs.”

A new procurement process will begin in the coming weeks. Current contracts will be extended while the new procurement process is underway to ensure that Maui and Kauaʻi county residents have uninterrupted access to ambulance services, the Health Department said.