Pharr EMS will be partnering with several local hospitals to provide non-emergency ground services.

Pharr ambulances will soon be seen at hospitals around the Valley after the city approved several contracts allowing them to be used as non-emergency ground services.

"Non-emergency ground services is us providing a service to the hospital in order to decompress hospitals when they have patients that need to get discharged by ambulance or moved from one hospital to another," said Pharr EMS Director Chief Daniel Ramirez.

Ramirez says although they will have EMTs and ambulances for hospital use, it's a completely separate division.

"We don't intertwine our emergency division with our non-emergency division,” Ramirez explained. “9-1-1 calls don't get affected because a hospital calls and says 'I have a patient that needs to go to one hospital.’ Those are two separate divisions."

Pharr EMS says with the new contracts also comes new jobs for Valley residents.

"There's a possibility that we're going to hire an additional 42 people," Ramirez said.

For people thinking about applying, Ramirez says they will be needing different levels of EMT's, all of which must be certified by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

So far, the contracts using the services are:

• • South Texas Health System
• • Knapp Medical Center
• • Mission Regional Medical Center