Update 8/8/2017: In a pathetic attempt to cover up employee grievances, LifeCare Ambulance Inc. forced all company employees to sign extensive confidentiality agreements. They also threatened to fire the individual(s) responsible for providing Scumbagged.com with any information. As a direct result of this behavior, we will be moving forward with a subsequent article on LifeCare in the coming days. Click Here for more info.
In 1984 Andre de la Porte of Elyria, Ohio, moved up the ranks as an EMT. He worked hard, saved his money and hoped he could one day realize his dream of owning his own company. In only 2 short years he accomplished exactly that. In 1986 he seized the opportunity of a lifetime and acquired Majoras Ambulance which he turned into an empire that is now known as LifeCare Ambulance Inc.
Mr. Porte’s company has over 60 vehicles, 6 different stations and provides EMS services to roughly 160,000 residents in the Lorain County. The company has absolutely zero debt – every single property & vehicle is fully paid off. LifeCare receives grants from the government for processing direct 911 responses as well as comfortable contracts with various cities, hospitals and nursing homes to maintain daily transportation services.
The employees of LifeCare are what makes Mr. Porte’s company so great. They save lives every single day, rushing to the scene of the injured, keeping them stabilized and transporting the wounded to the nearest hospital. However, many of Mr. Porte’s EMT’s are working as many as 120 hours per week. Not because they want to, but because they have to.
Mr. Porte pays his workers some of the lowest wages in the county. Essentially forcing some of his employees to work grueling shifts (one employee recently worked 48 hours with less than 6 hours of sleep). The hourly wage for one of his EMT’s is paid less than the average of a Rally’s fast food cashier. The hourly wage at LifeCare as an EMT is $10.00/hr (this after a recent raise from $9.17/hr), in comparison to a cashier who makes $10.20/hr at Rally’s. These same underpaid and over worked EMT’s who sometimes have to administer life saving techniques and provide backup to emergency 911 calls.
LifeCare Medic Wage Scale
The current 3 and 5 year longevity increases for Medics will be suspended until further notice. If you have already received these increases, they will not be taken back. Annual bonuses program for all Medics in 2017 are discontinued. Year 1 / Step 1 Starting Medic wage – $13.50, Year 2 / Step 2 Medic wage – $14.25, Year 3 / Step 3 Medic wage – $15.00. Medics with greater than 5 years but less than 6 years will earn $15.25, Medics with years of service greater than 6 but less than 7 will earn $15.50 and Medic with years of service greater than 7 will stay at their current level of pay (no change to base wage).
See the official LifeCare Paramedic Doctrine here: https://scumbagged.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2.jpg
LifeCare EMT Wage Scale
The years of service working at LiceCare Ambulance as an EMT-B, will no longer count toward the Medic Wage Scale. When you are an EMT-B working at LifeCare and you obtain your Medic Card, you will move to year 1 on the Medic wage scale. (starting at $13.50/hr). Starting the pay period beginning 1/1/2017 all currently employed EMT-B and new hires will be set to $10/hr (from $9.17). Increases ranging from 0%-2% will not start to be given until anniversary dates after 1/1/2018. No general increase will be in effect for EMT-B in 2017 to the significant ($9.17 to $10.00) increase with moving to the $10/hr starting on 1/1/2017.
See the official employee LifeCare EMT Doctrine here: https://scumbagged.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/1.jpg
Starting on 1/1/2017 the Annual Bonus program for Medics & EMT-Basic will be discontinued and all medics with years of service greater than 7 years will stay at their current level of pay (no change to base wage).
Additionally, the reviews from many of previous LifeCare Ambulance Inc. employees can be found re-iterating the fact of either having extremely poor pay, lack of breaks and too many hours.
See Previous Employee Reviews:
- https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Lifecare-Ambulance-Service/reviews
- https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Lifecare-Ambulance/reviews
- https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/LifeCare-Ambulance-Reviews-E513994.htm
- https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/LifeCare-Ambulance-Elyria-Reviews-EI_IE513994.0,18_IL.19,25_IC1145782.htm
The disparaging wages at LifeCare shouldn’t exist. Herb de la Porte isn’t simply void of debt, but he also lives a lavish lifestyle that could rival that of any A-list movie star. He has a private plane, a helicopter, a boat, a 1909 Stanley Steamer, a 1960’s Amphicar, a hovercraft, an impressive classic car collection that would have Jay Leno drooling over, several homes, additional businesses, a mansion, and far far too many assets for us to list. It all boils down to excessive greed & an apparent sociopathic mentality that can be found in many corporate owners in the United States. Owners who show little empathy and fail to show even a semblance of understanding towards their employees financial well being.
COBRA says: There’s nothing wrong with getting rich & wealthy off of something you create and own. However, when you have home movie theaters & wine cellars, huge car collections and toys, go on large monthly excursions, have billowing bank accounts and you pay your workers in this industry less than fast food workers, it’s a damn shame. Someone who is responsible for the well being of another, not the intricacies of a perfectly wrapped burger, should be given their fair share. Not only for the employees sake, but for the sake of the community. To have overworked, stressed out employees who are effectively running on fumes is a risk to anyone and everyone who requires medical assistance.
Not So Fun Fact: The average EMT basic salaries are $13.23 per hour in Ohio. The average Paramedic salaries are $16.35 per hour in Ohio. LifeCare is on average $3.00 per hour lower for EMT’s and $2.85 lower per hour for Paramedics. See references at the bottom of this page to find the source of this information.
Furthermore, LifeCare workers view themselves not only as employees but also as civil servants. They take pride in their jobs and those that they help in the communities around them. Knowing this, de la Porte has an effective manipulation tool at his disposal that allows him to keep wages consistently low, essentially preying on the innate human passion of helping others. He’s also extremely lenient, so much so in fact that employees can make their own schedules and work unlimited overtime. Thereby creating the illusion of vast monetary incentives.
Maybe then he would see that were all essentially on “Life Support”.
One current worker for LifeCare said the following: “He comes in, will sit down and ask what you want for lunch, treat you just like any other normal person or co-worker I work with would. He’s a really nice guy, one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. That’s what makes it so hard for anyone to broach the subject with the wages we’re paid. Maybe if he knew how much we were struggling, how little time we got to spend with our families working our crazy shifts just to make it by, maybe if he saw our homes and the cars we drive. Maybe, just maybe then he would see that were all essentially on “Life Support”.
Reader Note: It should be noted that LifeCare does have “some” employees that are paid fairly well. For instance employees that have been working for the company for 10 or 20 years, or have higher positions such as a Crew Chief, etc. This article is specifically geared towards the Medics and EMT’s that have worked for up to 7 years for LifeCare Ambulance Inc., as the submissions have come from currently employed workers who fit this description.
SCUMBAGGED Tip: Mr. de la Porte, the employees of your company deserve a much needed wage increase, specifically the EMT and EMS employees who are vital to the people in our communities. For someone in this occupation to earn less than a fast food worker is point blank, wrong! You have more than enough income from this business to pay your employees fairly. A few dollars per hour more wouldn’t even be noticed by you, but to your employees it sure make a world of a difference!
We would like to thank all of the EMT & EMS workers who are out there saving lives and providing transportation to those in need. Your work is not only needed, but very much appreciated and doesn’t go unnoticed, just know that you are highly valued – even if your wage doesn’t reflect that, just yet….
References:
https://www.indeed.com/salaries/Emt-basic-Salaries,-Ohio
https://www.indeed.com/salaries/Paramedic-Salaries,-Ohio
https://www.glassdoor.com/Hourly-Pay/Rally-s-Hourly-Pay-E472563.htm
I am paid well. I make more working for Lifecare than I did at Cleveland Ems. I also enjoy the 10% 401k match. I want my employer to be making money. Never once have I worried about a check bouncing. Have you ever been employed by a poor person?
We’ve gone ahead and updated the article to more accurately reflect the statements within. Changes include LifeCare’s own word for word pay scale and reviews from upwards of 30 previous employees, as well as a readers note. We hope that this will help you better understand many of your co-workers various financial pains & hardships.
I call bullshit. It’s been my privilege and honor to know Herb and his family for more than thirty years, and to be one of his first partners. I know Herb as a man who has always done his very best for our profession and for his employees. Anyone who knows the history of LifeCare knows just how fragile this business can be and how this company actually was on life support, especially early on. LifeCare is a company run scrupulously well in order for it to exist year after year.
I worked for private ambulance companies that routinely bounced paychecks. I worked for bosses whose only concern was their own bottom line. That is, most emphatically, not Herb de la Porte. He’s an honorable man who doesn’t deserve this type of third rate hatchet job.
Not just emergency services, they have a wheelchair transportation branch too. I worked there for 7 years, when i left there i was making 9.25 hr…my starting pay 7 yrs prior was 7.53. Herb is a wonderful man, always willing to help…but maybe the help wouldn’t be needed if the wages were increased.
I worked for lifecare for 8 years. I left around 20 years ago to enter an entirely different non-medical field. When I left another private as a basic to go to lifecare as a medic, I took a pay cut. It is hard for me to complain, I bought my first home working there. My biggest problem was the unfairness of their pay scale when I was there-it was never fun to find someone who had been at the company half the time I was and was making more per hour. Sorry, refused to kiss de la Porte ass to get more money. They were nice people and all, but it was not well managed whe I was there. (Just because you’re related to the owner DOES NOT make you a good manager of people)