By Sharon Kiley Mack
Bangor Daily News (Maine)
Copyright 2007 Bangor Daily News
MACHIAS, Maine — Since the town’s ambulance service paramedic was lured away last October by higher wages elsewhere, the Machias Ambulance service has lost tens of thousands of dollars in potential revenue.
Ambulance veterans Christy Verburgt and Lois Libby, with a combined 45 years of service to Machias Ambulance, brought the situation to the attention of the Machias selectmen Wednesday night and pleaded for a solution.
“I had a nurse at the hospital tell me, ‘Six months ago you had something to be proud of and now it’s a tragedy,’” Verburgt said.
Verburgt explained that without a paramedic, the ambulance cannot transfer patients from Down East Community Hospital to other hospitals and back again. Each paramedic run brings in $1,200 to $1,500 in revenue, Verburgt said.
But the low wages paid by the self-sustaining ambulance service have forced drivers and EMTs to work elsewhere.
“All of these people would prefer to work here,” Verburgt said. “I want to be working here if my mother or any family members need the ambulance. But the reality is, we have to work and pay our bills.”
Verburgt said she is working for Pleasant River Ambulance and is paid $9 per hour “whether a wheel turns on that ambulance or not.”
The Machias service, which is not taxpayer-supported, pays $4 per hour for on-call and $8 per hour when a transport is required.
Verburgt said the ambulance handled about 800 runs last year when, with a paramedic, it should be handling about 1,500.
“We just can’t do this with volunteers any more,” she said. “The only way this will fly is if the taxpayers pick up part of the cost. We need a full-time department.”
Although plenty of figures were thrown around, the board left it up to Town Manager Betsy Fitzgerald to bring some concrete numbers back to the board’s next meeting.
Last year, it was estimated the service brought in $322,000 in revenue, and one of the figures the board is seeking is how much money has been saved in the ambulance fund.
Three members of the East Machias Board of Selectmen also attended the meeting to express their concern. The town has a $1,200-a-year contract with Machias Ambulance, a fee that would substantially increase should a full-time department be established.
“The townspeople are upset,” Selectman Leslie Haynes said.
“Let’s see if they are so upset they’ll support [a full-time service,]” Chairman Aubrey “Skip” Carter added. “We need to see where the money will come from, what benefits and overtime will cost. We would also have to provide sleeping quarters for the drivers.”
It is expected that a proposal will be brought before the voters at the annual June town meeting or at an earlier special town meeting.