Superior Ambulance has added the town of Highland to its list of contracted Lake County municipalities.
At an emergency meeting Monday, the Town Council unanimously approved a one-year emergency services contract with the Elmhurst, Ill.-based ambulance service. The service is scheduled to start at 7 a.m. Wednesday, Superior Vice President of Business Development Mary Franco said.
The terms include Superior providing 24-hour, seven-day-a-week service, year-round staffing of two advanced life support ambulances, according to the contract. The contract indicates one of the vehicles will be dedicated to Highland specifically while the second one will be shared with the town of Griffith.
Both vehicles will be staffed and stationed at Superior’s Highland office, 2605 Garfield St., according the contract.
Superior also will bill third-party payers for its services, with the patient picking up whatever insurance doesn’t cover, the contract reads.
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Councilman Mark Herak, I-3, asked Franco whether it will provide monthly data. Franco said Superior is dispatched by Lake County, so it will present E-911 data along with Superior’s time stamps to the appropriate town entity. Its response times, however, are listed in the contract as having a goal of three minutes, but “no more than five minutes from receipt of the call from the Lake County Dispatch Center,” unless weather conditions or other unusual circumstances hinder its arrival.
Fire Chief Bill Timmer thanked the council for calling the emergency meeting in light of Prompt’s contract that expired Tuesday.
“I’ll finally be able to sleep,” he said.
The previous contract holder, Prompt Ambulance, also of Highland, announced this year that it was closing. In June, Gary Miller, CEO and co-owner of Prompt, sent a letter to employees informing them of the decision.
“We are working toward retirement, but obviously we have a lot to wind down. It really takes a toll,” Miller said in the letter. Miller said he has been running the 24-hours-a-day operation for 37 years. His wife, Char Miller, is president and co-owner. His brother, Jerry Miller, works in risk management.
Highland becomes the fifth municipality to sign with Superior in the wake of Prompt Ambulance closing. Munster, Dyer and Merrillville already have signed, and Griffith chose to go with Superior at its Oct. 3 meeting but is finalizing the contract, according to Griffith Council President Rick Ryfa.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.