Residents of Fort Worth may be relieved to learn that the city is not losing any of its ambulance services, as had previously been widely reported.
In a letter to Mayor Mattie Parker, the senior vice president of human resources at Global Medical Response, sought to clear up the confusion.
Richard Barr wrote, “Regrettably, a letter dated October 2, 2023, was recently sent in error to you providing notice of anticipated layoffs at our local Mobile Health business – NOT relating to our ambulance operations servicing the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Please disregard that notice.”
The company’s mobile health service provided hospital-level care to patients in their homes.
“To be clear, we have no plans to close our ambulance operations … nor to lay off any ambulance service team members,” the letter continued. “In fact, we have been working with our Mobile Health team members to transition them into our local or nearby ambulance operations to increase staffing for those ambulance operations.”
The confusion stemmed from an erroneous report that American Medical Response — a subsidiary of Global Medical Response — made to the Texas Workforce Commission, stating that the company planned to lay off 156 workers in Fort Worth. Barr clarified to KERA News that 156 workers are being laid off nationwide as the company closes out its mobile health program to focus solely on its ambulance service.
However, an employee at American Medical Response misinterpreted the data and made the erroneous report to TWC, Barr explained.
Barr told KERA that only one manager and seven paramedics had been laid off due to the closing of the mobile health service in Fort Worth, which was officed at 6616 Calmont Ave. The eight workers are being transitioned to positions with local ambulance services, hospitals, and fire departments.
While American Medical Response does operate in the metroplex, another company, MedStar, is the exclusive provider of ambulance services for Fort Worth and 13 surrounding cities. MedStar also has its own mobile health program serving the area.
“We apologize for the confusion and inconvenience this [error] may have caused,” Barr stated in the letter.
Note: This article was updated on October 18, 2023, to correct the erroneous claim that Global Medical Response would be shutting down its local ambulance services.
