Lanesborough Ambulance's Future Unknown With Budget Struggles
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The town is going to have to find new ways to fund ambulance operations or stop providing it.
The ambulance service is funded by an enterprise account that derives its revenue from billings to both insurance companies and users for services. However, there are fewer available emergency medical technicians to cover all shifts, reducing the amount of business, and a growing pile of unpaid patient bills.
"We are having some issues. They are not bringing in as much revenue as they used to," Town Manager Paul Sieloff said on Monday. "There are reserves in that account but the problem is they are going to start chewing through the reserves."
The law requires there be two EMTs to man an ambulance and oftentimes, the town can't find two available to handle a call. That business is sent to other agencies.
Further, Fire Chief Charles Durfee, who sits on the ambulance enterprise fund board, said there is close to $30,000 in unpaid bills owed to the ambulance.
"There is quite a bit out there in unpaid debt," Durfee said. "It's tough for a small town to make it work."
Transportation by ambulance costs between $500 and $1,000 and insurance companies only cover a portion of that. The rest falls on the patient.
Durfee said the overhead costs of running an ambulance has continually risen over the years — from the price of oxygen to EpiPens to recertification. He said it costs $1,000 to send someone through the EMT training programs.
And there isn't much of a demand for people to become EMTs. Durfee said the responders get paid $20 per call (a number that was just recently upped from $10 in hopes to get more responses), and each one takes a little over an hour. But, there is also a six-month commitment for training and ongoing certifications, and costs incurred just for a paramedic to keep up with state training regulations.
"You don't have people banging down the doors to become EMTs," Durfee said.
Of the 11 in the Lanesborough Fire Department, most have day jobs, so few can respond when a call comes in during the day. The call then goes to County or Action Ambulance in Pittsfield.
"When you give up all of those calls, it's not a money maker," Durfee said.
Typically, the ambulance is run through the Fire Department on a budget in the $60,000 range. Most years, there is enough income to offset the overhead. But this year, Durfee said there has only been $13,000 in revenue, leaving a shortage in the operating budget — the actual number hasn't quite been nailed down.
Luckily, the final payment is being made this year on the 4-year-old ambulance. But, soon enough there will be the need to purchase a new one and there isn't enough revenue to start saving.
The Ambulance Enterprise Fund board is now looking at options to make the numbers fit. Sieloff, who also sits on the board, said the group will be crunching numbers to determine if, and how, to get more money for the operations.
"I'm going to have too look at an alternative funding system," Sieloff said.
Lanesborough Firemen's Association Treasurer PJ Pannesco believes the ambulance service is still viable.
"We're concerned. I think we are going to fight to continue to offer ambulance service to this community," he said.
Pannesco said the town tried to pay EMTs for shifts at one point. At the time, there were five or six calls coming during a shift but as soon as the EMTs were hired to be on duty during those hours, the calls seemed to stop — thus ending the effort.
Durfee said the group will be looking at all types of changes to help balance the budget but ultimately, he expects it will be up to the town to either contribute money to its operations or let the service fall to the wayside.
Tags: ambulance service, budget shortfall, emergency services, EMT,
