A hearing scheduled for Thursday in a civil case involving competing ambulance providers and local government officials was canceled.

The hearing had been scheduled to help a judge decide whether to dismiss the case, but the defendant in the case withdrew its motion to dismiss because the plaintiff had filed new information.

In April, Champion EMS, which is affiliated with Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System, sued East Texas Medical Center EMS, which is affiliated with the former East Texas Medical Center health system, alleging ETMC EMS had an illegal monopoly over ambulance services.

The case also named the city of Tyler, Smith County and the Smith County EMS Administrative Agency in the suit. The agency is an entity that was set up to administer the ambulance contract with ETMC EMS back in the early 1990s.

Champion’s case was a counterclaim after, a year prior, ETMC EMS sued Champion EMS for providing ambulance services in much of Smith County. ETMC EMS said Champion was infringing on a contract ETMC EMS has had to be the exclusive ambulance provider in most of Smith County.

ETMC EMS withdrew its motion to dismiss the case earlier this week after Champion filed an amended version of its lawsuit last week. That amended lawsuit repeats the claims of an illegal monopoly and added allegations that ETMC EMS brings patients to its affiliated hospitals despite patient objections.

ETMC EMS has not yet filed documents in the case rebutting the new allegations. Neither have the city of Tyler, Smith County, or the Smith County EMS Administrative Agency, which had also been seeking to have the case dismissed.

ETMC EMS and East Texas Medical Center are now branded as UT Health East Texas EMS and UT Health East Texas, respectively, but the old names are used throughout court documents.

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