The leader of Orange County’s biggest fire department is calling to change how the county runs its ambulances, asking county leaders to get rid of their private ambulance contractor and alleging they stacked the deck against him during contract negotiations. 

It comes after OC Supervisors rejected calls from the Orange County Fire Authority to let the agency take over 911 calls for half of the county and instead let Falck handle the calls.

[Read: OC Supervisors Reject Fire Authority Ambulance Plan, Pick Private Contractor]

In an Aug. 29 letter, OC Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy alleges the contracting process was unfair.

The letter, which shared a mixture of statements from Fennessy and the Fire Authority’s lawyers, alleged that county leaders put two former employees of Falck on the review committee along with Tammi McConnell, the former director of OC Emergency Medical Services. 

Fennessy asked Healthcare Agency Director Veronica Kelley to lock McConnell out of the contract process due to previous complaints about her conduct, according to the letter, a request he claims she agreed to. 

“On or about July 31, 2024, Fire Chief Brian Fennessy met with HCA Director Dr. Veronica Kelley to share OCFA’s concerns regarding Ms. McConnell’s demonstrated bias against OCFA and favoritism toward Falck,” the agency’s lawyers wrote. “Dr. Kelley agreed that Ms. McConnell would not serve on the Panel.” 

Fennessy also alleged that Falck broke other requirements, including submitting hundreds of extra pages on their proposal, and claimed their past relationship with the county gave them an inappropriate leg up. 

A week and a half after the fire authority lost the contract, the agency’s board held a special meeting on Aug. 21 behind closed doors and gave Fennessy the greenlight to file a complaint to county leaders, alleging the panel that ranked the ambulance contracts was stacked against OCFA. 

In his letter, Fennessy said the information came after the board meeting, where he’d publicly said the county’s process was “good.”  

Despite Fennessy’s complaints, county officials sent back their own letter dated Aug. 29 stating they would not be reconsidering the contracts. 

“The County does not consider untimely protests,” wrote Brittany Davis, manager of the county health care agency’s procurement and contract services division. 

Falck spokesman Jeff Lucia said the company “decisively won” its contracts in a statement to Voice of OC on Thursday. 

“It’s disappointing to see the County being attacked, especially after the OCFA chose not to contest the award during the formal protest period and Chief Fennessey testified before the Board of Supervisors that OCFA had no issues with the process,” Lucia wrote.  

County Supervisor Don Wagner, who also sits on OCFA’s board of directors, said he was “unimpressed” by the protest letter. 

“At the end of the day, HCA and the county get to say who’s on the scoring panel,” Wagner said in a Friday interview. “It didn’t work out for OCFA. I’m sorry but there are losers in every (contract bid).” 

Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who also sits on the fire authority’s board and voted against sending the letter, said she still had some “concerns” over the way the contract was handled. 

“I questioned the Health Care Agency and await a response,” Nguyen said in a Monday statement. 

They aren’t the only county whose wrestled with the decision to stay private or go public for ambulance services.

In 2023, San Bernardino County cut ties with their private ambulance company and switched to a coalition of local fire departments for EMS. 

Ventura County leaders have been wrestling with the future of their EMS plans for over a year according to a timeline on their website.  

It’s also not the first time Fennessy has butted heads with other agencies over how to manage ambulances. 

Fire Authority leaders also tried to stop the City of Placentia from pulling out of the fire authority and implementing its own dispatch system that prioritized sending more ambulances to emergency calls over an ambulance and a fire engine. 

Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.