One month following negotiations to move forward with a new Emergency Medical Services provider in Harrison County, officials have unanimously approved a contract with Acadian Ambulance Service.
Monday’s vote came after February’s approval of a recommendation by a county selection committee. It was the culmination of a relationship with American Medical Response (AMR) that had been rocky for months — if not years.
With residents concerned over the company’s delayed response to emergencies across the county, the board appointed a nine-member oversight committee that was committed to holding the ambulance service accountable last September, which ultimately resulted in the coastal county moving away from AMR in favor of a new deal with Acadian.
Acadian Ambulance is an employee-owner private ambulance service based in Lafayette, La., in which the provider maintains a fleet of more than 400 ground ambulances, eight medical transport helicopters, and five fixed-wing aircraft that provide aerial transport to medical facilities.
“On behalf of Acadian Ambulance Services, we are super-excited and thankful the county’s Board of Supervisors chose us to be their provider of EMS,” Bennie French, the government relations director of Acadian Ambulance Services, said. “We are especially honored by the recommendation of the selection committee, which was led by Harrison County Fire Rescue Chief Pat Sullivan along with county EMA Director Matt Stratton and Sheriff Matt Haley. All the work this committee did was amazing and seamless.”
The contract with Acadian will begin on April 30. While the cities of D’Iberville, Long Beach, and Pass Christian will be utilizing the new provider’s services, two others in Harrison County have chosen another entity for the same services.
Gulfport and Biloxi selected Pafford EMS as their provider for emergency management services. Biloxi approved a contract with Pafford back in December 2023 while Gulfport decided to authorize this contract in February of 2024.
Acadian already has facilities in nearby Jackson County, serving as their EMS provider since 2000, Pafford hopes to have facilities in place soon. The Biloxi fire departments will allow Pafford docking stations, but according to certain officials, the city of Gulfport will not allow this.
To date, Pafford EMS has no facility south of Jackson.
