Air Methods' Joint Venture Increases Number of Ambulances in New York
DENVER, Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Methods Corporation (Nasdaq: AIRM) announced an increase in the number of ambulances operated by its new joint venture servicing Catholic Health Services of Long Island (CHS).
The venture, EMX Emergency Medical Services LLC, began operations in late June 1998 with six ambulances. Since that time, three additional ambulances have been delivered and placed into service and three have been ordered and are awaiting delivery, for a total of 12.
Douglas C. Wattoff, Executive Director of EMX Emergency Medical Services LLC, said, "The new ambulances increase CHS Ambulance Services' ability to meet growing demand. Our performance continues to generate interest, and competing hospitals are now negotiating to have CHS Ambulance Services enlist their facilities. Key factors driving our early success are high quality patient care, on-time performance and our highly trained and motivated staff."
George Belsey, Chairman and CEO of Air Methods, said, "Success of this program has already produced requests from other large hospital systems nationwide to provide similar ground-based services. Our initial expansion into the ground services business appears promising as we continue to add capacity and generate revenues, although still nascent at this point. We continue to believe that future growth in our core air medical operations will be enhanced by our ability to integrate both air and ground services."
CHS is a large consortium of hospitals, nursing homes, diagnostic and treatment centers and home health agencies servicing Nassau and Suffolk counties, NY. With more than 1,600 beds, CHS has become the second largest healthcare consortium on Long Island.
EMX Emergency Medical Services LLC, a joint venture between Air Methods and EMX LLC of New York City, operates under a 5-year administrative service agreement with CHS to operate CHS Ambulance Services, Inc. Air Methods is a 50/50 partner in the venture, which was founded by EMX to help CHS create the ambulance company and its business plan. Air Methods owns 5% of privately held EMX, which develops information services and products aimed at improving the delivery and efficiency of healthcare services.>>
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