Ambulance rides across much of northern Clark County will soon cost significantly more after the EMS District 2 board voted Thursday to approve higher rates for emergency medical transport, a decision prompted by the City of Vancouver’s withdrawal from a long-standing regional contract.
The new rates, approved Oct. 30, raise the price for an advanced life support (ALS) 9-1-1 call to $2,774.49, and a basic life support (BLS) call to $2,336.42. Routine, non-emergency transports will cost $1,672.12 for ALS and $1,393.45 for BLS. Mileage charges are listed at $45.70 per loaded mile.
The district’s previous contract with American Medical Response (AMR) had a lower charge. The highest rates, originating from 9-1-1 calls, were $1,813.39 for ALS and $1,527.07 for BLS emergency calls, before mileage charges. Routine, non-9-1-1 calls charged $1,145.29 for ALS and $954.42 for BLS, before mileage.
The increase follows Vancouver’s May 24 decision to leave the regional partnership that covered the city and EMS District 2, which includes Battle Ground, Ridgefield, La Center, some of Woodland, and unincorporated Clark County. The current contract expires at the end of 2025, and EMSD2 had to approve new rates before submitting them to the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner by the Oct. 31 deadline.
Battle Ground City Councilor and EMSD2 board member Eric Overholser said the cost increase will directly affect riders rather than taxpayers through a shared readiness fee.
“Taxpayers will be paying for that increase per ride, and so instead of it coming out as like a readiness fee... It's literally an increase in the ride cost for ambulance service, whether it be advanced life support or basic life support,” Overholser said in a voice message to The Reflector.
Fire District 3 Deputy Mayor and Fire Commissioner Shane Bowman stated that the change reflects the rising costs across the emergency services industry, encompassing everything from equipment to personnel.
“The cost of an ambulance now is close to half a million dollars,” Bowman said. “In 2014, we bought a fire engine for the city of Battle Ground that cost us about $485,000. We just ordered two new ones for the fire district... and they’re $1.2 million.”
Bowman said while the rates are steep, they may be necessary to sustain the service.
“It’s probably warranted that they need these to be able to stay in business,” he said. “The biggest challenge is who’s going to pay for it... do we pay a readiness fee so people can pay a little bit less when they go, or does it just get passed on to the consumer?”
Bowman added that those without strong insurance coverage could face high out-of-pocket costs.
“If you don’t have really good insurance, it’s gonna be passed on to the consumer,” he said. “You’re gonna get a bill saying, ‘Hey, you owe us $2,800 for your ambulance ride.’”
Vancouver had already paid a $1 million readiness fee to AMR for 2026, but EMSD2 opted against such a model. Instead, the district’s residents will bear the higher costs per transport.
Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue Chief John Nohr, whose agency serves Ridgefield, Woodland and surrounding county lands, said the new rates ensure the system remains self-sustaining without additional taxpayer subsidy.
“By raising rates, the four cities and the county do not have to come up with that $700,000,” Nohr said. “It remains supported by the cost to take a ride in the ambulance.”
Following the passage of a 2022 EMS levy, CCFR launched its 24-hour ambulance service this year and plans to acquire a second ambulance in 2026. The current policy of CCFR is to align its ride rates with others in the area. Nohr emphasized that maintaining uniform rates between AMR and public ambulances is crucial for fairness.
“We wouldn’t want people paying two different rates for two different services in the same service area,” he said. “We think it’s important for consistency across the broad service area that the rates are the same.”
Nohr said his department’s second ambulance, expected to launch next year, will help maintain quick response times in Ridgefield and surrounding rural areas.
“We’ve significantly reduced the response for our higher priority calls across the district,” he said. “By adding that second unit next year, we’ll have consistently reduced responses across the district.”
Clark County Contract Administrator DeAnn Cordes said the district’s rates could still decrease slightly once final contract negotiations are concluded.
“We are currently in negotiations with AMR,” Cordes said. “The board has voted to keep exclusivity in for non-routine transports, and because of that, the rate that you see on this paper is higher in case the board did not approve that exclusivity.”
Cordes said that once negotiations are finalized, the district’s new AMR contract will take effect on January 1, 2026.
“These are actually the rates that will be billed to your insurance if you have insurance, or billed to you as a patient without insurance,” she said.
Despite the higher prices, Bowman said response times should remain stable across the district.
“According to what I’m hearing, our response times are supposed to be staying the same,” he said. “It’s just really more that people are just gonna have to pay for the ambulance.”
