Our History

Having had similar success with a co-op laundry plant serving all of the hospitals, the hospitals felt that establishing these types of jointly owned operations was cost-efficient and allowed for control of the direction the company would take without the need for direct support or management.

To provide oversight and direction, a board of directors was formed and registered in the State of Florida as a 501 C 3 not-for-profit agency. Articles of Incorporation and corporate By-laws were created as well. The board was comprised of the three “member” organizations noted above and each member had three seats on the board. An executive committee was comprised of the Chief Executives of the three hospitals who rotated the chairmanship of the board annually and in turn. Each executive committee member would then appoint two members, normally board members of their hospitals to round out the three directors from each member hospital. This organization remained intact for 22 years until October 2010, when Wuesthoff had to withdraw their membership due the sale of Wuesthoff to a for-profit hospital system, Health Management Associates (HMA), that would not qualify for membership under the articles of incorporation. Discussions were initiated in search of a legal means to have the new hospital system (through a charitable organization/foundation under its control) rejoin the Coastal Board of Directors, but an appropriate means to do this has not yet been realized, partly because the hospital has transitioned through several different owners since Wuesthoff ceased to operate as a not-for-profit organization.

In 2000, the Coastal Board of Directors hired William McCarthy as its President/CEO and he remains the senior executive of Coastal as of the date of this history, December 2018. In his time as president, McCarthy has lead the company through many positive changes that have expanded its areas of service to include Osceola County and Indian River County. The company became nationally accredited in 2006 through the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) and has maintained this accreditation to date. Coastal is also a member in good standing of the American Ambulance Association and the Florida Ambulance Association as well as numerous other professional and community organizations.

Coastal operates under an exclusive franchise agreement and Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (COPCN), negotiated by the Director (Fire Chief), Brevard County Fire-Rescue and approved by the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners. The agreement is very detailed, providing specifics regarding standards of operations and mutual aid, details unique services that must be rendered, approves and promulgates Coastal’s rates for its services, cites very specific performance and response time standards and mandates numerous statistical reports that are provided to the county. While this agreement is fairly unique, it is also a very comprehensive agreement that guarantees the county has a very reliable partner in quality and it gives Coastal the comfort to make major purchases and upgrade systems and equipment without concern that they might be forced to compete with a new provider that is not burdened by such detailed requirements. In short, it has been a model for the delivery of quality ambulance transports where the BCFR transport units deliver superb 911 support to the county while Coastal delivers equally high-quality non-emergency ambulance services.

Coastal operates approximately 30 ambulances and support vehicles, delivering Advanced and Basic Life Support transport services as well as Specialty Care Transports of patients with very significant complications and clinical needs. A staff of 90 – 100 personnel performs all transports, dispatching, administrative, billing functions and fleet maintenance.