By Anthony Salamone
The Morning Call
NORTHAMPTON, Pa. — East Allen Township’s volunteer ambulance squad has ended its service after more than four decades
It was a victim of “dire financial conditions,” the township manager said in a news release and interview. But the board president of East Allen Township Volunteer Ambulance Corps said it was really a change in township position that led to the abrupt shutdown.
The closing adds to a growing list of EMS providers in the Lehigh Valley that have ended service over the years.
Township supervisors last month approved Northampton Regional Emergency Medical Services as its basic life support provider. The Northampton squad was already handling advanced life support, according to Brent Green, township manager.
East Allen officials said residents should experience no change in service, according to the news release. Northampton Regional representatives said in the release it would work to recruit staff from East Allen.
However, Greg Kuhn, board president of the East Allen squad, said no one from Northampton Regional contacted him following the service’s closing. He said approximately 10 emergency medical technicians abruptly lost their jobs over the township supervisors’ decision.
“They took these people’s careers and essentially said, ‘You no longer have a job,’ ” Kuhn said. “I would consider that unprofessional.”
Financial difficulties
Both sides acknowledged that in recent months, the corps and township were trying to negotiate financial help from the township to cover the squad’s budget, which faced hits from rising operational expenses amid stagnant billable rates through Medicare.
The nonprofit squad’s latest IRS form 990, for the year ending 2021, shows net assets or fund balances of $210,372, up from $165,043 in the beginning of 2021, according to the information service Candid, formerly GuideStar, that specializes in reporting on U.S. nonprofits. But in its release, the township said a review of the squad’s financial results found it would have had to cover approximately $320,000 for a “structural financial deficit.”
Kuhn said the squad and township reached a verbal agreement in which the township would cover its payroll costs for seven months. But the township paid for one month then changed its mind, he said.
“It shot us in the foot,” Kuhn said.
Green and the township lauded the East Allen squad’s service over the decades but said in recent years it began running a significant deficit. The township could not afford to provide money from its budget without residents facing an approximately 35% tax increase, he said; the hike would cost a typical homeowner about $165 more per year in township property taxes.
East Allen’s financial deficit was about $26,000 per month, Green said, due to a lack of sustainable call volumes; an increase in staffing costs; and low reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid for transport and other services.
“We did the news release to reflect it was not about [the East Allen squad’s] quality of service,” Green said. “It was just a financial deficit and a lack of call volume.”
What comes next
Eric Wescoe, executive director of Northampton Regional, said via email the group has been serving East Allen for 14 years with paramedic service and as a backup for basic services.
He said the organization is working to use the East Allen fire department’s station for its EMS facilities and said its neighboring Allen Township station is 1 mile from East Allen facility. Northampton EMS’ website says the nonprofit provides service in seven Northampton County communities and Catasauqua in Lehigh County.
Wescoe said Northampton Regional will honor East Allen Township residents’ subscriptions through the end of the year.
On a social media post, the East Allen squad thanked its current and past members, and the community “for all the great memories and friendships made over the years.”
East Allen Ambulance was formed in 1979. About a year later, it received state certification as an emergency service provider.
Kuhn said the organization plans to sell its assets and turn over the proceeds to one or more charities decided by its board.
EMS struggles
In Pennsylvania, municipal government officials select ambulance providers to cover their communities with ambulance calls.
Cities, including Allentown, have their own provider, while rural communities rely on a combination of paid and volunteer organizations. During the last three decades, the number of ambulance squads has dropped from 27 to 11, according to Donald DeReamus, an administrator with Palmer Township-based Suburban EMS.
“We are down to 11, and it will be 10 without East Allen,” DeReamus said. “It takes a certain amount of call volume to support an ambulance service anymore.”
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