Maricopa Ambulance has submitted an application to the Arizona Department of Health Services for a certificate of necessity to operate ambulance services in the greater Maricopa County area.

“We believe that citizens in Maricopa County deserve a choice when it comes to ambulance transport,” Maricopa Ambulance founder Bryan Gibson said. “It is in the best interest of the community and the state to have options for nonemergency ambulance transport. Free market competition will organically keep costs low and quality high without further regulation.”

Maricopa Ambulance, located in Scottsdale, is owned by national ambulance company, Priority Ambulance. Maricopa Ambulance employees have decades of experience in emergency medical services in Arizona and across the country.

In state-regulated ambulance markets such as Arizona, companies seeking to operate emergency or nonemergency ambulance service must confirm that there is a community need before expanding into the market. In its application for a certificate of necessity (CON), Maricopa Ambulance stated that community options for services and pricing ultimately will improve the quality of pre-hospital medical care for the area’s residents.

Gibson, who is the CEO of Priority Ambulance, has owned several ambulance companies across the country and previously served as chief operations officer of Arizona-based Rural/Metro Corporation. CFO Kristi Ponczak is a resident of Maricopa County and has 13 years of experience managing finances for emergency medical services in Arizona.

“Maricopa Ambulance is made up of local people who want to better serve the needs of our community,” Ponczak said. “Our leadership has decades of experience managing ambulance services in Arizona, and we want the opportunity to bring our high level of service to the greater Maricopa County.”

If a CON is granted by the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS), Priority Ambulance is poised to quickly invest additional resources at Maricopa Ambulance to provide emergency and nonemergency medical transport. Priority Ambulance is supported by Enhanced Equity Fund, an investment company specializing in health care companies that manages approximately $600 million of committed capital.

About Priority Ambulance:

Based in Knoxville, Tenn., Priority Ambulance provides the highest level of clinical excellence in emergency and nonemergency medical care to the communities it serves. Throughout its national service area, more than 500 highly trained paramedics, EMTs and telecommunicators staff state-of-the-art ambulances with the latest medical equipment and technology.

Priority Ambulance provides emergency and nonemergency medical transport options in East Tennessee to Knox, Loudon and Blount counties. Priority Ambulance also operates in Utica, N.Y., as Kunkel Ambulance and Trans Am Ambulance in Olean, N.Y. Operating as Shoals Ambulance in Alabama, the company serves Lauderdale, Colbert and Franklin Counties and the greater Birmingham metro area in Alabama. In the Greater Indianapolis area, Priority Ambulance has a signed letter of intent to purchase Seals Ambulance.