Adam Daigle
The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.
LAKE CHARLES, La. — Gov. John Bel Edwards and area elected officials helped Acadian Ambulance officially open its Southwest Louisiana Operations Center on Tuesday.
Located in the former Dimmik Supply building on Enterprise Boulevard, the center represents $1.9 million in renovations to the building by Acadian. The 18,000-square-foot facility will be the administrative and fleet center for the region and also feature an ambulance crew station, offices for Acadian Total Security and classrooms for the Lake Charles campus of Acadian’s National EMS Academy.
Edwards spoke just days after the first anniversary of the first reported death from COVID-19. The virus has claimed more than 10,000 lives since then.
“No part of Louisiana, no part of our country has been tested like our health care workers, and that includes our EMTs,” Edwards said. “That includes our paramedics, and so I want to thank all of them. But particularly since we are here today with Acadian, I want to thank you for the heroic work you’ve been doing for over a year now.”
Acadian’s Southwest footprint, which serves Calcasieu, Jeff Davis, Acadia, Beauregard and Allen parishes, includes 246 employee-owners with an annual payroll of approximately $12.2 million.
Founded in 1971, Acadian Ambulance has 5,000 employee-owners and is the nation’s largest employee-owned ambulance service with a service area that encompasses 56 million square miles in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Tennessee.
“There is a nationwide shortage of medics, and we have many good-paying EMT jobs right here in southwest Louisiana,” Acadian Ambulance president Justin Back said. “We hope to attract more people into our EMT program with our online learning model and new skills training classrooms in Lake Charles. After just four months, graduates can become EMTs and earn an average of $35,000 or more per year.”
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