By Jacob Geanous
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PETERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Peters Township in Washington County is expected to choose a new ambulance service provider to replace the local VFW, which has provided emergency medical services for the township for more than 60 years.
Peters Township Council is slated to vote on the change Monday. The move comes after Peters Township EMS said in a post to social media late last month that the VFW — which has funded and operated the township’s ambulance services since 1963 — can no longer support the service due to rising costs and diminishing rates of returns from insurance.
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Last Monday, Peters Township Council heard proposals from two ambulance service providers, UPMC-owned Washington County Ambulance and Chair and AHN-owned Canonsburg Ambulance, but the decision on who to award the contract to was ultimately delayed for a week.
“The members of council wanted some time to think it over and look through the proposals, which made sense to me,” Peters Township Council Chairman Gary Steigel said.
Mr. Steigel said one of the only costs for the township associated with bringing in an outside EMS provider will be to buy the current Peters Township EMS building, which will be about $600,000 to purchase.
As part of an agreement between the township and VFW inked about three decades ago, the township is obligated to buy the building from the VFW if the township ambulance service is no longer providing EMS care, Mr. Steigel said.
Aside from that, the township also already pays for senior citizen subscriptions to the ambulance service — which cover any costs for patients that insurance doesn’t cover — for about $127,000 annually, which Mr. Steigel said the township would continue.
During last Monday’s meeting and in posts online, VFW and Peters Township EMS representatives have opposed bringing in an outside EMS service and instead suggested that the township itself should assume operations of the service.
” Peters Township is one of the best communities, and its residents deserve their own internal dedicated, high-quality emergency medical service agency operated by the township,” Peters Township EMS wrote late last month. “The township has its own Fire Department and Police Department; it deserves its own ambulance service.”
Mr. Steigel , however, said if the township were to take over the EMS service it would cost about $1.4 million to buy the building, plus all of the vehicles and equipment.
“We could afford it, but there would have to be a tax increase to cover it,” Mr. Steigel said. “The biggest thing that we’re concerned about is we’d be buying an ambulance service, broken as it is.”
Mr. Steigel said the current Peters Township EMS has had staffing difficulties over the past few years and, on many days, ambulances are staffed by a paramedic and an EMT-certified firefighter, who have been needed to step in because each ambulance needs at least two people to operate.
“Somebody has to be caring for the patient, so that’s usually, in a lot of cases, a firefighter at this point...going with one of these two providers is going to make the situation a lot better,” he said.
Mr. Steigel said both providers indicated they would be willing to retain the current Peters Township EMS staff, which is just under 30 employees.
Whichever provider the township ultimately goes with is expected to be up and running within about a month and a half.
“I think it’s imperative we get it going as soon as possible,” Mr. Steigel said. “There needs to be a decision made Monday night.’
That decision, however, will not necessarily be final as the township plans to monitor the performance of its next EMS provider.
“We’re going to have metrics laid out and if they can’t meet the metrics, then we’ll move on, but I don’t think that’s going to be the case for either of the providers,” Mr. Steigel said. “They both have solid reputations.”
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