Six State Transport Service Shut Down

A private ambulance service that transported more than a half-million patients a year in more than 70 counties in Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virgina shut down WITHOUT notice over the weekend.  First Med EMS also operated under the names TransMed, Life Ambulance and Med Corp.
Most of First Med's business was "non-emergent" transportation.  Patients and institutions were left scrambling to acquire replacement transportation.
When the company's approximately 2300 employees showed up for work, they found locked doors or discovered their job was gone from other workers.
First Med's website remains inaccessible and calls to corporate offices either reached disconnected lines or weren't answered.
A class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the employees.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/10/21852954-lawsuit-filed-against-shuttered-ambulance-service-that-stranded-hospitals-in-six-states?lite

It is frightening to think that such a large company, that so many sick people depended on for transportation, could just vanish without notice.  The shock of 2300 people who woke up to find out that they lost their livelihood right before Christmas is unimaginable.
We can all hope that this is just an isolated case and not a precursor of other healthcare companies disappearing.