October 4, 2021
Priority Ambulance solidifies position as the largest private ambulance provider in Tennessee
Priority OnDemand and its ambulance service company Priority Ambulance announced today that Nashville-based First Call Ambulance has joined the company’s national family of service providers. The addition solidifies Priority Ambulance’s position as the largest ambulance provider in Tennessee. First Call Ambulance is a leader in emergency and interfacility ambulance services in Middle and East Tennessee, serving more than 50,000 patients annually.
“First Call’s core belief is serving each patient and customer with an equal emphasis on quality medical care and personal customer service – a mission that Priority OnDemand and its ambulance service company Priority Ambulance supports and shares,” said CEO Bryan Gibson. “First Call’s success in delivering on these promises is evidenced in the company’s significant growth in Tennessee over its 17-year history. We welcome the First Call team to our Tennessee family and look forward to supporting their plans for continued growth.”
First Call Ambulance was founded in 2004 in Middle Tennessee and rapidly expanded to be one of the largest medical transportation services in the state. Today, more than 300 First Call EMTs, paramedics, dispatchers and support staff serve more than 50,000 patients annually with 54 ambulances and support vehicles.
First Call CEO Scott Yates is a U.S. Navy veteran, and First Call is a certified veteran-owned business (VOSB). Yates will continue to lead the company alongside his existing management team..
“Our patients and communities will continue to experience the same high level of service with First Call’s ‘People First’ focus and commitment,” said Yates. “As a part of a national company, we secure our ability to advance along our current growth trajectory and serve new customers and communities. Priority also opens up new career advancement paths to First Call employees and brings national purchasing power for employee benefits packages, ambulances, equipment and supplies.”
First Call serves nearly every major hospital system customer throughout metro Nashville and the Middle Tennessee region. Since 2012, First Call has been the 911 ambulance service provider to Cocke County in East Tennessee.
“Tennessee is near to our heart,” said Gibson. “Priority Ambulance is the only national ambulance company headquartered in the state. With the addition of First Call, the Priority Ambulance family of companies solidifies its position as Tennessee’s largest ambulance service with a truly statewide presence and significant operations in each of the state’s four largest metropolitan areas.”
In Tennessee, Priority Ambulance currently operates under four existing brands: Priority Ambulance in Loudon, Knox and Blount counties; Baptist Ambulance in Memphis and West Tennessee; Puckett EMS in Chattanooga and Southeast Tennessee; and A&E EMS in Franklin County and South Central Tennessee.
Combined with First Call, Priority’s Tennessee operations employs more than 1,000 EMTs, paramedics, dispatchers and support staff with more than 150 ambulances. The company provides 9-1-1 services to eight Tennessee counties and statewide coverage for interfacility services.
First Call has a history of seeking out new technologies and partnerships to streamline service to its workforce and customers. Through strategic partnerships with Traumasoft, First Net by AT&T and Samsara, First Call Ambulance upgraded its communications center in 2019 with artificial intelligence-assisted dispatching, which was highlighted on AT&T’s national Innovation Blog.
“First Call believes technology is critical to providing the best, most efficient care to patients in the communities we serve,” said Yates. “Our team is excited to continue to invest in leading-edge technologies and explore the new digital tools available to us through Priority’s health care technology platform.”
Through the Priority OnDemand platform, First Call and its customers will have access to an industry-leading digital transportation ordering and patient logistics software for hospital and medical facility partners, as well as integrated telehealth solutions.
About First Call Ambulance
First Call Ambulance was founded in Nashville, Tenn., in early 2004 and has expanded to provide medical transport services throughout Tennessee. The First Call team includes more than 300 employees and more than 60 ambulances and support vehicles. As one of the largest providers of medical transport services in Tennessee, First Call annually responds to more than 50,000 requests for our medical transport services. For more information, visit www.firstcall-ambulance.com.
About Priority OnDemand and Priority Ambulance
Priority OnDemand creates important connections across the continuum of care that solve challenges and reduce inefficiencies for patients, providers, hospitals and healthcare facilities, communities and insurers. Priority OnDemand integrates telehealth and patient logistics software solutions to EMS and medical transportation services. Priority OnDemand impacts the lives of 830,000 patients annually. For more information on the integrated technology platform, visit www.priorityondemand.com.
Priority Ambulance is a dynamic, rapidly growing health care company with current medical transportation operations in 14 states and has been listed for four consecutive years on the Inc. Magazine’s list of the 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America. Priority Ambulance’s EMTs, paramedics, nurses and support teams deliver exceptional patient care and customer service to more than 600,000 patients each year. Throughout its national service area, approximately 4,100 highly trained paramedics and EMTs staff a fleet of more than 825 state-of-the-art ambulances and support vehicles. For more information on the Priority Ambulance family of companies, visit www.priorityambulance.com.