By Rita Savard
Lowell Sun
CHELMSFORD, Mass. — With time expiring on Trinity EMS’s contract, Town Manager Paul Cohen will ask the Board of Selectmen tomorrow to extend the ambulance provider’s services for three years.
“Both chiefs are satisfied with the service that has been provided by Trinity EMS and both support this proposal to extend the current contract for an additional three years,” Cohen said.
The contract hammered out three years ago required Trinity to reimburse the town $60,000 a year, the amount the town paid in dispatching fees for medical calls. Before 2008, Trinity had paid the town $1 annually for nearly 20 years.
The current agreement followed a yearlong debate over ambulance service when Cohen proposed the Chelmsford Fire Department take over as ambulance provider.
After much research and debate, town officials voted to keep the service private.
Trinity’s contract expires in June. Under a new contract, Trinity’s reimbursement for dispatch operations would climb from $60,000 to $68,000 in the first year, to about $72,000 in fiscal 2013, and to about $75,000 in the final year.
The dispatch center receives more than 30,000 calls a year.
Trinity’s experience in providing emergency service to the town for two decades, its headquarters location in Drum Hill, and its ability to respond to a mass casualty event justifies the extension, Cohen said.
Copyright 2011 MediaNews Group, Inc.
All Rights Reserved