The City of Fort Worth has taken another step closer to launching its own EMS division within the fire department, securing agreements to provide services to 14 other cities within Tarrant County.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, MedStar, the current sole EMS provider for multiple cities within the county, has struggled to stay financially afloat. MedStar currently provides ambulance and paramedic services to Tarrant County residents spread over a 436-square-mile area, responding to approximately 185,000 calls annually.
Created in 1986 as a public utility model operating under the direction of the Metropolitan Area Emergency Services Authority, MedStar was funded primarily by fees collected for its services from health insurance and government programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. However, 25%- 30% of those service calls resulted in no form of payment due to lack of insurance, decreased federal funding, or other reasons. In addition, supply chain issues and increasing personnel costs have added to the financial burden.
In 2023, MedStar approached the Fort Worth City Council to ask for help funding its operations so that it could continue to serve community residents. At that time, the city began analyzing the feasibility of integrating the EMS into the city fire department.
In May 2024, the Fort Worth City Council officially approved establishing an EMS system within the Fort Worth Fire Department. Since then, the city has been working on the transition logistics, including merging the MedStar workforce into the fire department and negotiating pay structure, civil service protections, seniority, accrued vacation time, and other matters, per The Dallas Express.
In addition, MedStar board members approved the purchase of nine new ambulances and hundreds of portable radios and computers, all of which will transfer over to the incoming Fort Worth Fire EMS.
Most recently, the city executed agreements with 14 other area cities that the Fort Worth Fire-EMS will also serve, beginning on July 1. The participating member cities include Blue Mound, Edgecliff Village, Forest Hill, Haltom City, Haslet, Lake Worth, Lakeside, Richland Hills, River Oaks, Saginaw, Sansom Park, Westover Hills, Westworth Village, and White Settlement.
Most of the member cities have entered a 10-year agreement with the City of Fort Worth, except for Edgecliff Village, which has agreed to a five-year term. The agreements will renew automatically at the end of each agreed period unless terminated by either party in advance.
Each member city will be billed based on the time the Fort Worth EMS workers spend responding to calls within the city. The initial payments for each city will be based on a projected budget and will be adjusted the following year to reflect the actual costs incurred, according to the Fort Worth Report.