Clackamas County’s new contract with American Medical Response creates expectations for response times 

Published 2:19 pm Friday, August 1, 2025

As a way to better ensure that those facing life-threatening emergencies receive the care they need quickly, Clackamas County approved a performance-based contract with American Medical Response Northwest for ambulance services.

The Clackamas County Board of Commissioners adopted the agreement, which is anticipated to cost $250 million and runs through mid-2035, at a meeting Thursday, July 31.

The county placed AMR on a performance improvement plan in 2023 due to longer emergency response times than expected. Based on data Clackamas County provided from 2022-2024, AMR often struggled to meet response time expectations for life-threatening emergencies.

“At the time, emergency medical services across the region were facing challenges with ambulance response times, primarily due to staffing shortages,” a Clackamas County press release reads. “AMR has made significant investments in its workforce over the past two years, including scholarships and work-study programs to attract and support new emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics. Currently, AMR in Clackamas County is fully staffed and has consistently met the required response time standards for the past five months.”

According to the contract, AMR must meet standards covering response times and quality of care. There are incentives for meeting standards and penalties for not doing so.

“When someone in our community needs an ambulance, it’s so important that it arrives quickly and that they receive quality care,” said Clackamas County Chair Craig Roberts in the press release. “Ambulance response times have been a region-wide struggle over the past few years, but I am pleased that recently here in Clackamas County we have been seeing positive trends. This new contract with AMR will help ensure that those positive trends continue and that AMR meets clinical performance metrics in addition to response time requirements. Innovative programs like nurse navigation also help ensure that residents get the quality care they need.”