Valencia County wins state approval to bill ambulance transports

When a resident in Belen, Los Lunas or the unincorporated parts of Valencia County calls 911 for an ambulance, the ride to a hospital can now come from the county fire department, and the bill can follow the county instead of a private provider.

The Valencia County Fire Department received its certificate of necessity on May 6, 2026, from the New Mexico Department of Transportation, clearing the way for county crews to transport patients by ambulance and bill for those runs at the same tariff rate charged by AMR. Fire Chief Matt Propp said the certification confirms the department’s EMS fleet and personnel meet state standards, including required physicals and checks of background and driving records.

Propp said the county had been “shotgunning” transports for years, a practice that was allowed but not the best way to run a system. With the new designation, he said, Valencia County now has firmer footing to provide the service itself. The practical effect for patients is straightforward: if an insurer would have paid AMR for a transport, it can now pay the county when county crews provide the ride.

That could matter most for households trying to understand whether emergency medical costs rise or shift. Propp said the department does not intend to chase patients into collections, and the goal is to recover at least some operating costs rather than turn ambulance work into a debt-collection system. The revenue piece may not start immediately, though, because the vendor that handles EMS reporting is expected to stand up billing later this summer.

The county’s EMS operation already runs at the advanced life support level under the medical direction of Dr. Whitney Barrett of the UNM EMS Consortium, with Assistant Chief John Grassham leading the EMS section. The fleet includes 3 Type 1 rescues, 1 Type 2 and 2 Type 3 rescues, giving the county a local transport system that can now function alongside AMR, which says it has served Valencia County since 2013 with 31 paramedics and EMTs handling about 9,600 calls each year.

The timing is important because the county’s new hospital is rising in Los Lunas at Main Street and Sand Sage Road. County ambulances can transport only to certified emergency rooms, so the under-construction Valencia County hospital could eventually become one of those destinations when it opens later this year. In a county that is building a larger health-care network and now has the authority to move patients into it, the new certification gives local government more control over the next 911 medical call and a new way to pay for it.