TransCare, the private Brooklyn ambulance company that provided 911 service to seven city hospitals, filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Feb. 24, setting into motion contingency plans prepared by the Fire Department of New York.
TransCare operated 27 EMS ambulances that performed 81 shifts daily in Manhattan and the Bronx. Among the hospitals that had contracted with TransCare for emergency services were two Montefiore campuses (seven ambulances), Bronx-Lebanon (six), St. Barnabas Hospital (five), Mount Sinai Beth Israel (four), Mount Sinai Hospital (three) and NYU Langone (two).
FDNY said Wednesday night that it had prepared for the bankruptcy and would make up for TransCare's absence by providing additional units through overtime while looking to other private ambulance operators to fill the gap.
FDNY asked hospitals in other boroughs to consider putting more ambulances into use as it redeploys more resources to the Bronx.
It also asked Montefiore to consider increasing its emergency department staff so EMS personnel aren't slowed down during triage, said Peter Semczuk, senior vice president at Montefiore and executive director of its Moses campus.
Montefiore must now evaluate its options, which include using its ambulance license to run its own operations or selecting a new EMS vendor. The hospital had already begun transferring some of its nonemergency business away from TransCare during the past year, Semczuk said. He has received numerous phone calls from vendors interested in the contract during the past few days.
"We feel fairly confident that between the work of the other ambulance companies along with the FDNY redeploying additional resources and Montefiore stepping up to the plate and choosing another ambulance vendor at some point, the gap will be filled very nicely," he said.
A Mount Sinai spokeswoman said the health system's 911 ambulance service remained operational and it was working on a plan to continue service.
GNYHA told members it was likely TransCare would remain in operation temporarily to prevent a serious disruption.
"Although Chapter 7 requires the liquidation of assets, there is also a provision that permits the operation of the debtor's business for a limited period, which could potentially facilitate a less disruptive transition," GNYHA President Kenneth Raske wrote to members Wednesday.
DOH said in a statement it had been "working for several months with counties and local ambulance services to ensure that should TransCare cease operations, there is a continuity-of-operations plan in place which includes but is not limited to enacting local and regional mutual aid."
TransCare had 1,900 employees in New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware, former Chief Executive Glenn Leland told Crain's in July, when the company failed to pay employees on schedule. It was controlled by investment firm Patriarch Partners, run by Lynn Tilton, who was once dubbed the "Wonder Woman of Wall Street."
TransCare said in a letter to employees that it had spun off its unit providing paratransit to New Yorkers with disabilities as well as operations in Pittsburgh and the Hudson Valley. Those parts of the business continue to operate as normal. That saved about 700 jobs, but left another 1,200 in jeopardy.
The company said it would liquidate other segments of the business, including operations in New York City, Westchester and Maryland, following "a decision by our senior lender to cease providing additional funding."
"We are doing what we can to save parts of the business in order to ensure continued service where we can—and to protect as many jobs as possible for our highly dedicated and loyal employees," the spokesman said by email Thursday.
In its bankruptcy filing, TransCare estimated its assets at between $10 million to $50 million and its liabilities at $50 million to $100 million. The filing reported a range of 200 to 999 creditors, but noted that no funds will be available to unsecured creditors.