Colorado Ambulance undergoes financial restructuring

March 16, 2002
By Jena Bulger, Enterprise Staff Writer

Under new administration the Colorado Ambulance Foundation, formerly Broomfield Emergency Ambulance Service, has managed to secure $250,000 with the help of Guyer Management Assistance.

After years of accumulating debt, the organization has restructured, received a large line of credit and taken out a mortgage against their building, said new president Tim Battenhouse.           After a two month hiatus last summer, the newly named CAF hired Battenhouse, new operations manager Bill Diershow and an out-source chief financial officer from GMA, C. Stephen Guyer.

Guyer’s goal is to help CFA stand on their own again.

“The company is now in a re-group phase, I will help them through the transition,” Guyer said. “They had no excess funds for a long time. I want them to restore and get back to an autonomous foundation.”

CAF provides non-emergency transportation for long-term care facilities, van rides to Medicaid patients to and from hospitals and doctor appointments and 911 services for the town of Pleasant View.

They also specialize in hospital-to-hospital transports and provide wheelchair service. CAF handles 12 to 15 wheelchair calls a day, but cannot handle all of them because they have only two vans. The five ambulances run three to four calls a day and will pick up some of the wheelchair calls if possible.

As a non-profit organization, CAF is able to offer their services at a lower cost.

Guyer said he was able to free up more money right now for the organization and help get a handle over their bills.

“I will also assist in dealing with government and medical professionals, which can be a challenge,” said Guyer.

GMA was hired to help with the new management because both Battenhouse and Diershow are full-time firefighters and do not have time to reorganize the books and gain control of the financial part of the business.

Battenhouse said having Guyer allows for him and Diershow to concentrate on other aspects of the organization like finding a qualified staff and serving the community.

GMA focuses on helping companies overcome the three factors that most often threaten success: too much debt, too little investment and disorganization.

Guyer said since CAF is one of only a few non-profits that provide ambulance services in the Front Range, it is important to keep them running.

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