Greeley Fire Department reports EMS calls up, response times down after switch to UCHealth as ambulance service provider
By Kelly Ragan
Call volume is up for the Greeley Fire Department and its emergency medical services – but response times may be ticking down, according to a report shared by Greeley Fire Chief Brian Kuznik at a Greeley City Council meeting Tuesday.
Last year, the City of Greeley switched ambulance providers after a competitive bid process, choosing UCHealth over Banner. The new contract took effect Dec. 1, 2021 and will run through Nov. 30, 2024. Banner Health provided ambulances between 2012 and 2021.
“We could not be more pleased with your service to our community,” said Mayor John Gates. “Early on, some naysayers told me ‘they’re not going to have enough ambulances to service your community.’ The numbers suggest otherwise – and let me tell you, I see your buses everywhere, so clearly you have plenty of ambulances to service our community.”
Calls have increased 176.2% since 2001, according to the city. In 2021, 911 saw about 15,750 calls for service, with more than 75% of those being for emergency medical services.
Greeley, of course, has grown significantly since 2001.
Calls even increased by nearly 3,000 since 2019, peaking at 12,157 in 2021.
Calls trended up nationwide in 2020 with the pandemic, Kuznik said.
“I don’t know how to explain why we’ve seen such a significant call increase in 2021, Kuznik said, “and we’re feeling it and seeing it today in 2022.”
Even with the increase in call volume and the switch in city EMS service providers, Greeley Fire Department response time is down.
The goal is for all responses to service calls to happen within five minutes or less 75% of the time.
Here’s what recent data says about the average EMS response time:
2018: 4 minutes and 22 seconds, 68.7% of the time
2019: 4 minutes and 46 seconds, 66.6% of the time
2020: 4 minutes and 27 seconds, 65.7% of the time
2021: 4 minutes and 16 seconds, 72.1% of the time
Fire incident response times have improved as well.
2018: 5 minutes and 24 seconds, 74% of the time
2019: 5 minutes and 37 seconds, 74.7% of the time
2020: 4 minutes and 22 seconds, 80.7% of the time
2021: 3 minutes and 58 seconds, 74.5% of the time
UCHealth, Banner comparison
UCHealth staff offered a couple data points to compare total call volume and transport destination.
Total call volume
Banner Health as transport provider
Date range: Dec. 1, 2020-March 31, 2021
Total calls: 3,123
UCHealth as transport provider
Date range: Dec. 1 2021-March 31, 2022
Total calls: 4,801
Transport destination comparison
UCHealth staff presenting at the city council meeting Tuesday said that as UCHealth became more established in Greeley, they expected the percentages to even out, typically depending on patient preference.
Banner Health as transport provider
Date range: Dec. 1, 2020-March 31, 2021
Total transports: 2,450
Percent of transports to Banner Health: 69%
Percent of transports to UCHealth: 30%
UCHealth as transport provider
Date range: Dec. 1, 2021- March 31, 2022
Total transports: 3,142
Percent of transports to Banner Health: 55%
Percent of transports to UCHealth: 44%
Council member Tommy Butler praised UCHealth staff for presenting.
“It’s wildly different than the past provider we had, I don’t think we ever had a presentation from them,” Butler said.