By Eyana Adah McMillan
The York Dispatch
Copyright 2007 York Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
NORTHEASTERN AREA, Pa. — Northeastern Area Emergency Medical Services has said it might no longer exist if it doesn’t get increased funding from the municipalities it serves.
Ryan Brenneman, director of operations for Northeastern Area EMS, said the ambulance club needs $602,000 to adequately serve East Manchester and Conewago townships, as well as the boroughs of Manchester and Mount Wolf.
He said if the ambulance club is not able to get the amount it needs, it will have to close at the end of next year. Until then, the EMS crew would have to use its $200,000 reserve fund to provide services in 2008.
Tuesday night, Brenneman and fellow crew members asked East Manchester Township for $105,760 to go toward the EMS budget.
But the township has budgeted $3,500 for the ambulance crew, said Steven Gross Jr., chairman of the board of supervisors.
He said the township gives that amount as a contribution, but also pays toward the crew’s insurance, workers’ compensation and other expenses.
Last year, the township paid about $13,800, Gross said.
The club wants to hire more full-time staffers, who would receive benefits, Brenneman said. Currently, the club has four full-time and seven part-time staff members and three volunteers working around the clock, he said.
Less than police and fire: The amount the township pays the EMS service is considerably less than what the police department — scheduled to receive $750,000 — and fire
companies will receive for their services, Brenneman said.
Gross agreed, explaining the township’s budget calls for paying $45,000 each for services from Union Fire Co. and Eagle Fire Co. The fire companies also divide $49,000 in equipment funds from the township.
The fire departments get more in part because they don’t charge residents for services, which the ambulance crew does, Gross said.
Budget vote Dec. 11: The supervisors will vote on the township’s budget during their Dec. 11 meeting.
The ambulance club also has asked Conewago Township for close to $77,063, Manchester borough for almost $39,611, and Mount Wolf for $18,531. The amounts are mainly based on the number of residents in each municipality, Brenneman said.
Manchester borough has committed $7,000, an increase from last year’s $2,500 contribution, while Mount Wolf upped its contribution from $1,000 to $2,000. Conewago Township gave $2,500 last year, with plans to give $100 more in 2008, according to Brenneman.
After yesterday’s meeting, Gross said that while he is concerned about the possibility of Northeastern Area EMS closing, the township officials would consider going with another ambulance service.
The township has received service offers from other ambulance companies, he said.
Brenneman said the Northeastern EMS has been providing services to the East Manchester Township area since 1969.