NH rescue squad faces going bust

February 26, 2010 04:34 AM

The Concord Monitor

ANDOVER, N.H. — Since 1966, the all-volunteer Andover Rescue Squad has provided emergency medical treatment and transport without charging patients a cent. But with costs rising and donations flat, the private organization is going bust, its president said this week.

The proposed solution before Andover’s town meeting March 9: Absorb the squad as a town department, supported by taxation and by billing patients and insurance carriers.

“In a nutshell, our expenses are rising precipitously and our donations are relatively flat, and as an organization we simply can’t operate under that model anymore,” said John Kinney, president of the rescue squad.

The squad, which has 16 emergency medical technicians and a single ambulance, has always been able to cover its expenses with donations from individuals and businesses, Kinney said, with the town covering the insurance for the ambulance.

But last September, local hospitals began charging Andover’s and other rescue squads for medical supplies, which previously had been provided free.

Kinney said that helped boost the organization’s estimated budget for 2010 to more than $31,000, compared with a historical level of $15,000 to $20,000.

“We could probably raise enough money as an operating budget, but when the ambulance needs to be replaced, and that will probably be in 2013, we won’t have any money to do that,” Kinney said.

Two articles on the issue are on the warrant for town meeting. One would create a town ambulance department as of April 1, and the other would create a revolving fund to continue accepting donations to support the department’s operations and equipment purchases. The rescue squad’s remaining funds, about $20,000, would go into the revolving fund.

New budget
The new department would have a budget of $24,000 for the remaining nine months of 2010, which would add about 9 cents to the town tax rate of $2.30 per $1,000 in property value, said Dana Hadley, Andover’s town administrator.

But it’s expected that billing revenue and the rescue squad’s leftover funds will cover this year’s entire budget with no tax impact, Kinney said.

The rescue squad can’t continue in its present form, he said.

“If the town shoots us down, our only option as a squad is to dissolve ourselves under the current charter” and reorganize so the squad can begin billing patients, he said. “It’s a short-term solution that may only extend the life another year,” since patient billing won’t cover the true cost of patient care.

Dennis Fenton, chairman of Andover’s board of selectmen, said he didn’t see a way to keep the service without town support.

“If they want services of the rescue squad . . . they’re going to have to spend some money,” Fenton said.

Creating a town department is just the first step in potentially reorganizing how emergency medical services are provided in Andover, town officials said.

For the time being, Kinney said, the department would continue to be all-volunteer and provide round-the-clock coverage.

But like many volunteer services across the country, he said, the Andover squad has found it harder to provide service during typical weekday business hours, when its volunteers are at work.

The squad responded to 144 calls last year, but in five cases, no one from Andover was available to respond and personnel from neighboring Franklin had to come in their place, Kinney said.

Mutual aid can be a valuable help to communities, but “it is not intended in any way to replace primary coverage,” said Franklin fire Chief Royal Smith, who oversees the city’s emergency medical services.

The Andover selectmen intend to form a committee to study how EMS coverage should be provided in the town, said Selectwoman Vicky Mishcon.

Possibilities mentioned by Mishcon, Kinney and Fenton include hiring full-time employees, contracting with Franklin to cover the town for set hours, forming some sort of regional service or attracting more volunteers with flexible weekday schedules.

“We’re just really going to keep an open mind,” Mishcon said.

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