Jan. 16—The 5-year-old lawsuit First Response Ambulance Service filed against the city of Decatur and Decatur Morgan Hospital has been settled.
A joint motion to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice was filed by attorneys of the three parties involved last month in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
David Canupp, a Huntsville attorney who represented the city of Decatur through its insurance carrier, confirmed last week that there is a settlement, but said the parties involved entered a non-disclosure agreement so the settlement amount won’t be revealed.
“I can say that Huntsville Hospital will continue to serve as Decatur’s exclusive ambulance service,” Canupp said.
City Attorney Herman Marks said last week that he was aware of a possible settlement but didn’t know the details because the city’s insurance company, Travelers Insurance, handled the case.
Marks said any settlement would not have to go to the City Council for approval.
“Everything is being handled by our insurance carrier, which is not subject to the open records law,” Marks said.
First Response owner David Childers said by phone last week, “At this point I can’t comment on anything to do with the legal action. I wish I could, but I can’t.”
The settlement ends a contentious relationship between First Response and the city during the company’s almost 10 years as Decatur’s sole ambulance service provider.
First Response began operations competing against Decatur Emergency Medical Service Inc. in 2012. DEMSI folded not long after First Response came to the city.
However, Childers clashed often with city officials, particularly the Ambulance Regulatory Board, Decatur Fire & Rescue officials and Assistant City Attorney Chip Alexander.
He fought the city’s ordinance that set financial penalties for failing to meet response-time requirements, and staffing and vehicle requirements.
Three months before ending its Decatur service, Childers filed the lawsuit in December 2021.
The lawsuit accused the city and Health Care Authority Board of the City of Huntsville, which owns Decatur Morgan Hospital, of conspiring against his company to create conditions in which First Response would lose its certificate of public necessity and convenience. A CPNC is the license that allows an ambulance service to operate in the city.
The lawsuit also accused the city and hospital of retaliating against First Response’s owner for his mayoral campaign. Childers ran unsuccessfully against current Mayor Tab Bowling in the 2020 municipal election.
The complaint primarily focused on the “emergency exception” resolution the Decatur City Council approved in February 2021 that allowed the hospital to run a temporary ambulance service during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact that resolution had on Childers’ company.
While officials said the hospital’s ambulance service was temporary, it became a full-time service competing against First Response in October 2021. The two briefly competed until First Response, facing a series of financial penalties, ended its Decatur service on March 15, 2022.
Decatur Morgan Hospital continues to serve as the city’s sole ambulance service provider. It recently also took over as Morgan County’s ambulance provider.
— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432