CHENANGO COUNTY – Following an announcement that the only private ambulance service in the area is pulling out for good – nearly a year after the company told area leaders it was struggling to stay in business – a solution to the county’s emergency services shortage, whatever it is, needs to come fast, several local leaders said Friday.
Superior Ambulance, a private Binghamton-based EMS squad that handled a significant amount of 911 and transport calls in several townships, announced last week that as of Oct. 25 it would no longer be doing business in Chenango County, with the exception of occasional transports.
In January, Superior cut back its service from three ambulances to one due to a lack of profitable business, company representatives said. It previously covered a bulk of the calls in several outlying districts, including Bainbridge, New Berlin, McDonough, Pharsalia and Smyrna. Fire officials say the City of Norwich EMS squad has taken up the majority of calls in the northern half of the county since.
“Do I know the answer? No, not yet,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Richard Decker. “There is a sense of urgency, and we are looking at a few ways we can assist.”
Decker said he couldn’t discuss what some of those options were specifically, but said finding a company to replace Superior was one of them.
County Fire Coordinator Matt Beckwith has met with several other private providers in the last 10 months, he said, and believes the likelihood that one will locate here isn’t very high.
Decker said implementing a county-funded service was also a possibility.
“A lot would have to fall into place,” Decker said, referring to legislative process that would have to be undertaken to form a county-wide service. “The county has never really had anything to do with emergency services as far as ambulance. But I also understand that there is an immense problem coming as far as getting EMS to the towns and villages.”
Decker says he expects a short term solution no sooner than January.
Town of Norwich Supervisor Dave Law thinks the shortage will be an issue for next two to three years.
“It’s going to be scary for a while,” he said. “We’re faced with a serious situation.”
When asked if the county took proper action after Superior’s January message that it was struggling, Law said, “I believe it was taken somewhat seriously.”
As a long-term solution, he said he expects municipal fire departments will go from volunteer to paid in the next 5 to 10 years.
In his part of the county, Town of New Berlin Supervisor Ross Iannello said replacing Superior with another private ambulance company would be the ideal solution.
“I’m hoping the county will be able to work something out with a another service,” said Iannello, referring specifically to Cooperstown Medical Transport, which already does work in the Afton, Bainbridge and Sidney area.
If a replacement can’t be found, Iannello acknowledged that the county may have to step in and fund some sort of service. Either way, something needs to be done quickly, he said.
“We’ll have to put everything on the table pretty quick,” he said. “Superior will be gone October 25. That doesn’t give us much time.”
Since Superior cut back in January, fire officials say the City of Norwich EMS squad has taken up the majority of calls in the northern half of the county. City Fire Chief Joseph Angelino said the added trips to places like New Berlin, Pharsalia, Plymouth and Sherburne have strained the department’s time and equipment and could compromise its responsibility to the taxpayers in the city and town of Norwich, North Norwich and Guilford, who fund the service.
“The decision is: How is Norwich going to use its people and its equipment in the coming weeks, months, to provide the emergency services that we are contractually obligated to provide?” Angelino asked. “It’s a decision that’s too big for me to make on my own.”
The solution will have to come from the townships and the county Board of Supervisors, Pharsalia supervisor Dennis Brown says, immediately.
“Chenango County has got to get in the (emergency services) business,” he said. “I don’t see any other way out of it.
“Towns like mine will have to get together with their neighboring towns and purchase an ambulance and rely on the county to supply the trained and paid emergency personnel to make them run.”
Brown said much of the problem has been created by strict training regulations that have deterred rural citizens from volunteering.
“They (Albany) have no understanding of rural New York,” he said. “What a horrible place it’s put them in.”
Brown said the county and towns will have to step up to take the burden of squads like the one in Norwich.
“It’s not fair to the rest of the county. The people of Pharsalia and elsewhere can’t rely on the people of Norwich’s good will,” he said. “This is a crucial situation. It’s something we (the board) have to look at today.”
Law agreed separately.
“It strips down our coverage,” he said. “Somewhere we have to draw the line. This part of the county can’t depend on Norwich.”