By David Pepose
The Berkshire Eagle
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — After three years with a single ambulance provider, Pittsfield Mayor James M. Ruberto confirmed Monday that the city will utilize two companies beginning next month.
“It has always been my intention to have two ambulance suppliers,” Ruberto said. “Two companies always provide you with immediate backup in the event some catastrophe would occur to your sole supplier.”
The city has previously utilized Pittsfield-based County Ambulance, Inc., which was the city’s lone ambulance provider following the departure of AMR in late 2007.
Beginning Feb. 14, County Ambulance will be joined by the Wilmington-based Action Ambulance Services, with Ruberto saying that they would split incoming emergency calls.
“Pittsfield is the economic hub of the Berkshires, so it’s an imporant location in the county,” said Michael Woronka, CEO of Action Ambulance Service. “That allows us to make it economically viable.”
For City Council President Gerald Lee, the addition of Action Ambulance means greater security for the county. Lee added that if one company left suddenly, as AMR did in 2007, the city would still be covered.
“If that ever happened to the other provider, where would we be? we’d be in serious trouble,” Lee said.
Because the ambulances are funded through the patients and insurance companies, he said, “the bids are zero for the citizens of Pittsfield, so to have a second ambulance service which doesn’t cost the city a dime or the public a dime just makes sense.”
Woronka said that Action will be located on Seymour Street, the former home of the now-defunct Central Berkshire Ambulance Service, and a second location is currently under negotiations.
Looking to hire local applicants as well as move existing employees to the Berkshires, Woronka said “we expect eventually to have 30 to 35 [employees] in the area.”
The company will have two hiring events at the Crowne Plaza on Jan. 9 and 17, with more information available at (978) 253-2625.
Ruberto’s decision has proven to be a shock for County Ambulance, which expanded its operations to cope with AMR’s departure in 2007, and will now lose half of its prospective customer stream to the new competition.
“I was kind of taken aback when I was notified that this was happening,” said County Ambulance’s president, Brian Andrews.
Andrews said that in his meetings with the Ambulance Review Committee of Pittsfield, he had been under the impression that the city would extend their exclusive contract with County Ambulance for at least another two years.
“It was not a call that I was expecting to get,” he said
This, however, runs counter to how Woronka described the proceedings.
“The [request] that the city issued at the beginning of 2010 especially talked about the willingness of the provider to share services with an additional provider,” Woronka said. “It was something that the city was always up front with us about that they were seriously evaluating.”
County Ambulance, which employs more than 100 people, is not losing its entire funding stream, as it will still cover half the city’s calls, in addition to working with private clients such as nursing homes.
Ruberto said he felt County Ambulance’s investments had been returned with the increased business since AMR’s departure.
“We need to get back to a competitive environment,” Ruberto said, “and we need to prepare for any emergency that may occur in the future.”
While Andrews said the company likely will not be engaging in any layoffs, he said he will carefully scrutinizing his finances moving ahead.
“We’re looking at every single thing in our budget,” he said.
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