Imperial County has found an interim provider for ambulance services.

County officials announced Wednesday that effective Wednesday , February 20, 2019 , American Medical Response   (AMR) , will begin providing ambulance service for the county. AMR will take over for Schaefer Gold Cross , the company that has been contracted by the county to provide ambulance service since 1974. Gold Cross notified Imperial county last week that they wanted to terminate their agreement with the county early.

Imperial County Board of Supervisors Chairman Ryan Kelley said , " We are pleased that AMR will be serving our community and are confident with AMR's capabilities to provided a robust emergency ambulance services operations and services at the same level of performance. Chris Herring , Emergency Medical Services Agency Manager stated , " The dedication of Gold Cross's staff and first responders should be commended. We are well aware of the challenging situation that they are in and they have continued to respond to calls and provide emergency medical services to our community."

County officials had decided that an early transition of services is necessary to ensure stability of the emergency medical services system. AMR has agreed to serve as the interim provider while the County works to implement a long-term stability plan. Long term sustainability will include the selection of a provider through a competitive process.