The Fremont County Commission remains “extremely concerned” about a possible lapse in ambulance services, but the leader of the local ambulance workers’ union is optimistic the service can stay running.
That follows a decision by the union last week to go on strike, starting Sept. 28 – two days before Fremont County’s contract with its ambulance provider.
The ambulance company, Tennessee-based Priority Ambulance, operating locally as Frontier Ambulance, denounced the decision in a statement last week as contrary to the law and the union’s agreement.
United Steel Workers Local 9012 President Dominick Sapien told Cowboy State Daily in a Tuesday phone interview the workers believed the strike was allowed when they voted for it because it was unfolding under a contract extension rather than the contract itself.
But now they’ve decided not to strike until Oct. 1, once the contract ends.
“We’re out of work at that moment anyway,” said Sapien, so the strike would be “largely symbolic.”
But the strike might not happen, he added.
Sapien was optimistic that on Thursday the Fremont County Association of Governments (FCAG) will revive its past discussions about managing the ambulance operation itself.
FCAG is a group representing the county's government (via Commissioner Mike Jones), plus Dubois, Riverton, Lander, Shoshoni, Pavillion and Hudson.
“We’re going to be attending the FCAG meeting,” he said. “They might have a deal with Priority to stay around for a little while, before they take over in June or July.”
Fremont County is a broad region, with comparably high violent felony rates in its largest town of Riverton and expansive terrain both on and off the Wind River Indian Reservation.
‘Extremely Concerned’
While Sapien was giving his interview, the Fremont County Commission dispatched a statement conveying the exact opposite tone: Worry.
“County Commissioners have been extremely concerned about continuing ambulance service to county residents and have met frequently on this issue,” says the statement, signed by Commission Chair Larry Allen. “The County has taken responsibility for funding the ambulance service and will continue to work towards maintaining the service.”
The statement points to concerns over Priority’s funding model, and concerns over reportedly mixed messaging about whether the government’s money is going toward staffing needs and costs.
“Priority is obligated to report monthly revenues and other information regarding the dedicated ambulance, but has repeatedly failed to do so,” it says.
Unpack This One
Priority’s contract stems back to July 1.
At first it cost the county $75,294 per month, but it “ballooned” to more than twice that, $156,000 per month in 2026, the commission’s statement says.
The statement points to a “notable” increase in the government payout after the last time the workers went on strike, in September 2023.
In August 2024, the county bought an ambulance for non-emergent ground transports and won a grant to cover Priority’s labor costs to operate this ambulance – with the hope of reducing life flights for routine patient transfers.
That was supposed to decrease the government payout to Priority, the statement says.
The Commission and other FCAG members met to discuss FCAG taking on the ambulance business – if a proposed .75% sales tax initiative passed in the Aug. 18 primary election.
Voters approved the tax. The county intended to have FCAG take on the ambulance business once the tax revenues start rolling in around next April, the statement says.
But in the meantime, Priority’s contract was set to expire June 30.
Once the tax was added to the ballot in June, the union asked for a substantial increase from Priortiy, and Priority in turn “pledged” to use the new influx to support labor costs, the statement says.
Well, Yeah
Sapien recalled that phase of negotiation.
“Priority told us all the tax money was going to funnel in, back to us,” he said of the workers. “So we started negotiating with pretty aggressive raises.”
But soon, he added, “we were told the tax money isn’t just going to be used for employment and retention.”
Then the employees “backed off” from the aggressive pay raise requests.
Sapien, a Fremont County-based paramedic of five years, makes $21.60 per hour, he said.
So Instead…
The county wasn’t in a position to pay the requested pay raises, says the commission’s Tuesday statement. So they negotiated an extension of Priority’s contract through Sept. 30 while commissioners watched for the fate of the tax and other circumstances.
Once the votes approved the tax, Priority asked for a three-year extension and an extra $636,000 in 2027, $289,000 in 2028 and $256,000 in 2029 for employee pay and benefits – “as demanded by the union,” the statement says.
Those increases made FCAG’s plan to take over the service look less likely, and the county wasn’t in a position to pay that, so it rejected the request, the statement says.
Allen told Cowboy State Daily in a Monday phone interview that the proposed 50% residential property tax cut on the Nov. 3 general election ballot weighs on conversations about future budgeting.
“It’ll affect everything,” he said.
Still, the end of Priority’s contract loomed.
The county asked for another extension through June 30, 2027.
The company rejected that, saying it wanted a three-year contract, the statement says.
Pivot!
The commission started talks with Cody Regional Health, a Wyoming-based, not-for-profit provider.
The Cody company said it “might” be able to take on the ambulance starting Oct. 1 but would need a commitment through December 2027, says the statement.
A potential for more transparency enticed the commission, its statement says.
“Unlike Priority, Cody is a not for profit service and has promised to share all financial information if it takes on EMS services in Fremont County,” the statement says.
Last Tuesday, commissioners approved a letter of intent to open those talks.
Nope
But ambulance workers had concerns about the Cody company, Sapien said.
He said they were offered a $10,000 retention bonus if they stuck around for the potential takeover, but that was whittled down to $5,000. And the workers rejected the officer anyway.
“Not because it wasn’t enough,” said Sapien. “But because we didn’t want Cody ambulance to come in.”
Sapien said the workers hoped for FCAG to take the service over. They were left in doubt about whether the Cody service would re-hire them, and an officer of the Cody company had indicated that it wouldn’t be willing to keep the union around, he said.
Sapien said the workers see their union terms not just to secure pay, reasonable hours and stability, but certain safety measures.
Allen told Cowboy State Daily the county was in a strange intermediary spot in these negotiations because it doesn’t employ the ambulance workers: Priority does.
“And then they wanted us to recognize their union, and their future employer to recognize their union,” said Allen. “We can’t do that because, for one, they’re not our employees.”
Frontier contracts with the county.
“And second of all, we can’t speak for whoever they go to work with … you know in the future we can’t speak for their employers, whether they’ll recognize a union or not,” said Allen.
As for Cody Regional Health, it said last week in a statement that it is “diligently evaluating the financial and operational feasibility of providing the services needed” but hasn’t made any commitments.
“As a healthcare organization we are sensitive to the situation in Fremont County and are working to respond to the request as soon as possible,” added Cody Regional Health.
Maybe We Won’t Strike
If FCAG comes up with a solution Thursday, the workers won’t strike – symbolically or otherwise, said Sapien.
“We’ve wanted just a sustainable solution for the county,” he said, adding that the EMTs and paramedics want job security, and “care about this community and want to do what’s right for this community.”
Phil Koster, chief operating officer of Priority Ambulance, voiced gratitude in a statement last week toward the “professionals who have cared for Fremont County residents and visitors over the past five years.”
Koster acknowledged what then appeared to be a potential two-day strike, and said the company was taking reasonable steps to continue service through the end of its contract.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
