Gold Cross issues protest against the City of Augusta
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A new report of protest has been issued by Gold Cross regarding the ongoing issue of Augusta’s ambulance service provider.
According to Gold Cross, the service issued an official protest regarding the selection process the city’s procurement department used to select the recommended provider, AmeriPro.
In the official protest, it states Gold Cross has nine locations in Richmond County and was not credited as an Augusta company.
It states that the Atlanta-based provider did not obtain an ambulance license until March 2018, when the RFP requires an applicant to be in business as a licensed ambulance service for at least five years.
The report states that Daniel Dunlap actively voted against Gold Cross and voiced opposition to Gold Cross on Region VI EMS Council.
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Gold Cross states that the presentation scoring for Gold Cross was incorrectly tabulated. Also stating that Nancy Williams, Augusta’s contract compliance called Gold Cross President Steven Vincent and stated that he didn’t need to prepare any presentation.
Including, that he would only introduce his company and answer questions.
“When we applied for the zone back in 2013, health care was a completely different beast at that point. You know, it was different. There was nowhere near the amount of 911 abuse where people were calling for any reason for an ambulance. You didn’t have the staffing challenges that COVID brought along. So when we presented that proposal, there are just certain things in there that doesn’t make sense anymore,” said Vincent.
Additionally, Gold Cross states that former employee, Ryan Goodson, actively participated on the procurement committee.
The report ends by stating that Gold Cross received high marks on qualification and experience and then significantly low on other items without justification.
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