AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) — New ambulance provider Central EMS says it will be ready to roll in May, so the city’s new subcommittee directed to work out a new contract is on the fast track. 

“I’m excited about where Augusta’s future in the EMS world would be headed,” said Interim City Administrator Takiyah Douse who chairs the subcommittee.

Central EMS says it needs to make a ten percent profit. But the amount of any subsidy was not reached at this meeting because the company says it needs to know what response times Augusta will want and need to see.

“That’s what we have to balance how many ambulances that you need to reduce your response times down, balanced with how much money the system will cost in the budget and we have to get on the see-saw and make this work,” said Central EMS President Gary Coker.   

The committee and Central EMS did reach agreement on other issues, one, that Central EMS will use Augusta’s 9-1-1 center to dispatch ambulance calls, and ambulances will be stationed on city property saving the company money.

“Allowing Augusta to use our fire department stations as housing centers,” said Douse.

The city is playing Gold Cross monthly for ambulance service. The committee wants to see an overlap of the two companies on the job as Central EMS transitions into the new ambulance provider.

“I do believe the blended program to where you have both services operating would assure the citizens that we’re not going to have a period of where we skip and end up to where somebody calls 9-1-1,” said Coker.