By Barbara O’Brien
The Buffalo News
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Struggling with a dwindling number of volunteers to answer ambulance calls in the town, the volunteer firefighters in Orchard Park decided to create a nonprofit corporation with paid paramedics.
Orchard Park Fire District EMS, working alongside volunteers, debuted Monday, weeks earlier than planned after New York State expedited the necessary approvals.
“Essentially it’s no different than how we operate today, with the exception of one thing. When we treat and transport the patient, we bill the insurance company,” Bob Simpson, vice chairman of the Orchard Park Fire District board of commissioners, told Town Board members Wednesday. “Whatever the insurance company pays out, is what we accept.”
More than a dozen ambulance calls have been answered this week by the new Orchard Park Fire District EMS.
After transporting a patient, the nonprofit will get insurance payment and not seek the balance from the patient. Residents without health insurance will be transported without fees.
There were about 1,500 EMS calls in the town last year, which would generate a minimum of $1 million in insurance payments, organizers said.
“The profits of that will then be turned back into the nonprofit organization to cover the expenses of some of the materials. Any [surplus] after that will be turned back to the fire district to hopefully reduce taxes,” said Bill Szewc Jr., chairman of the Orchard Park fire commissioners board.
“Your willingness to accept the third-party provider as payment in full is huge,” Councilman Mark Dietrick said.
“We don’t need to make a profit,” Simpson said.
There are similar arrangements in several towns, but Orchard Park fire commissioners said theirs is the first nonprofit company set up by a fire district.
The new company has six full-time employees, including four paramedics, one critical-care provider and one intermediate emergency medical technician. There also are several part-time employees.
When a call comes in, two paid EMS employees are dispatched to the scene in a “fly car” carrying advanced life-support equipment to begin treating the patient. Volunteer EMTs also are dispatched. They go to the garage, pick up the ambulance and drive it to the scene.
The volunteers may drive the ambulance to the hospital, which could take several hours before they are signed off the case. or they could leave the ambulance at the scene for the paramedics to transport the patient.
The new system gives a higher level of service -- a paramedic -- to every call that requires it.
There is one townwide fire protection district in Orchard Park with three volunteer fire companies -- Orchard Park, Windom and Hillcrest. Each company has one ambulance.
The fire companies contributed $100,000 in start-up funds to the new company, which will pay them back. And the fire companies will not be spending money on EMS equipment, which will be paid for by the new company. Orchard Park EMS will lease the fire company equipment.
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