Physicians Ambulance was originally founded in 1958 by Robert and Patricia Hess of Highland Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. The company was founded at a time where ambulance services were created largely in concert with funeral homes, and the services were, compared to today, extremely limited (think: basic first aid and oxygen administration only). The company was successful from Day 1, as the Hess Patriarch and Matriarch committed to a strong sense of values and a belief in teamwork and respect as core foundations to their leadership styles. Strong, but loving, these two started it all, and it flourished from there.
In the late 1970s, Robert and Patricia’s two sons, Ron and Rob Jr. and daughter, Valerie, began taking over the day-to-day operations, and together, they furthered the company along as new tactics in field medicine (pre-hospital care) took root after the Vietnam War. In 1986, Ron and Robert Jr. purchased the company from their parents, the same year the company’s current leader, Jason, was born.