Pa. official opposes end of ambulance mutual aid agreement

The mayor announced the plan to end the agreement in March; a city council chairman said there is no need to fix something that isn’t broken

April 01, 2016 12:53 PM

By Jerry Lynott
The Times-Leader

WILKES-BARRE — Add yet another voice to those opposed to Mayor Tony George’s change to the backup ambulance plan set to take effect this month.

City council chairman Bill Barrett said he’s been in contact with others, including fellow council members, about the public safety issue and plans to bring it up at Monday night’s combined work session and meeting.

They agree “that we shouldn’t be fixing something that isn’t broken,” he said Thursday.

Barrett said the mutual aid response plan is a good example of intergovernmental cooperation, something he supports. “I am not in favor of making this change,” he said.

The switch upended a nearly five-year-old arrangement designed to ensure emergency service coverage when the city’s two ambulances were unavailable. But the choice of Trans-Med Ambulance Inc. puzzled the plan’s partners, who raised concerns about the for-profit company’s reliability.

Last week, George authorized assigning Trans-Med. based in Forty Fort, as the priority backup for the entire city. The company had been part of the plan in place since October 2011 with neighboring ambulance companies to cover geographically designated areas in the city.

“Initially, this new system will be done on a trial basis to allow the city to monitor response times (and other matters) to assist us in planning in the future,” George said in a March 24 memo to Fire Chief Jay Delaney.

The other participants, Kingston Fire Department, Hanover Township Community Ambulance and Plains Township Ambulance will serve as secondary backups to Trans-Med.

Delaney notified Fred Rosencrans, executive director of Luzerne County 911, of the change by letter on March 28.

“Mayor Tony George requests that TransMed Ambulance be used as (1st) back up to city fire department ambulances. He would like out Mutual Aid partners to continue to serve as the city’s (2nd) back up ambulance,” the letter said.

George opted for convenience and cost with the change. He said it would be easier to have one backup ambulance dispatched by 911 and that Trans-Med’s rates were lower than the city’s.

The city bills insurance companies $850 for a routine ambulance call, he said Monday. By comparison Trans-Med charges $450 for a basic life support non-emergency call, $700 for an advanced life support non-emergency call, $600 for basic life support emergency call and $800 for an advanced life support emergency call.

“I don’t see why people are upset,” George said.

He said Trans-Med put in a proposal at his request and he also had been in contact with Commonwealth Health Emergency Medical Services about taking over the city’s ambulance service.

Renita Fennick, a spokeswoman for Commonwealth Health in Wilkes-Barre, confirmed CHEMS submitted a proposal to the city. “At the time the mayor requested our proposal, we were told another company had already been approached,” she said.