First Med lays off employees in Hampton Roads

Dec. 10--Employees of First Med EMS with operations on the Peninsula were told they no longer had jobs on Saturday as the business had shuttered.

"I was shocked," said Joshua Beavers of Newport News, who worked as a medic for First Med for six years. "I thought like everybody else we were fairly successful."

The Wilmington, N.C.-headquartered company operated in Hampton Roads under contracts to provide non-emergency transportation for patients to get to doctors' appointments, dialysis centers or between medical facilities. Several Hampton Roads employees said they received calls on Saturday to let them know they no longer needed to come into work. Media outlets in Ohio also reported First Med service shutdowns there. The company did not respond to several phone calls for information about the Hampton Roads layoffs, but a past news release claimed it employed more than 2,300 employees in seven states.

Beavers and other employees said they were told by supervisors that the company was declaring bankruptcy. According to online records, First Med has not filed for bankruptcy as of Monday.

First Med provided patient transport for Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News and Tappahannock, and the Hampton VA Medical Center. Neither facility was notified of the shutdown before it happened, according to spokesmen for those facilities. First Med maintained its own dispatch center in Wilmington, N.C., and had offices in Hampton, Portsmouth and the Eastern Shore.

The closure will not affect emergency services. Newport News and Hampton fire chiefs said First Med did not respond to 911 calls for emergencies on the Peninsula.

First Med had a contract with Riverside since 2009 to be one of its main transportation providers. The hospital system worked over the weekend with other vendors to take care of patient needs, said Riverside spokesman Peter Glagola. Riverside Tappahannock Hospital is working with another provider to stage vehicles to provide transport to other facilities, he said.

First Med has been under contract to provide service for the Hampton VA Medical Center since March 2012, VA spokesman James Coty said. The facility began using another provider on Saturday and is working on a long-term solution.

Sentara Healthcare operates its own ambulance service called Medical Transport LLC and picked up 30 extra runs over the weekend because of the closure, said spokesman Dale Gauding

First Med was a source of supplemental income for several local emergency responders. For the past two years, Beavers, 31, worked full time as a firefighter for Hampton while working part-time at First Med.

Kevin Moore, 24, of Hampton was told to go home in the middle of his shift working to transport wheelchair users on Saturday. He said he wished the company had an employee hotline or more information about the situation, as he wasn't sure whether the shutdown was permanent. He filed for unemployment benefits and is searching for another job.

"I'm frustrated," Moore said. "I literally still don't know what's going on."

Ciara Davis of Hampton, who worked as a basic emergency medical technician and driver, said the closure came as a surprise because the company had been talking about plans to expand. She hopes to organize a Christmas dinner for those affected. Other laid off employees are coordinating a Facebook campaign to collect toys and nonperishable items for affected families.

"One day we're doing so well and then we're no longer in business," Davis said. "Most of us just want an explanation. We did not see this coming."

Bryan Gibson, who was named First Med CEO at the end of July, did not return phone calls. Enhanced Equity Funds, which lists First Med EMS as part of its portfolio on its website, also did not return phone calls.

Bozick can be reached by phone at 757-247-4741. Sign up for a free weekday business news email at TidewaterBiz.com.

Copyright 2013 - Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)