Preston asked to take over ambulance service

Volunteers look to town for help; selectmen give support to changeover

— The Poquetanuck Ambulance Association could be the next volunteer emergency service to fall victim of the deepening lack of volunteers for the critical service in local small towns.

Preston paid Fire Chief Keith Wucik and volunteer Poquetanuck Deputy Chief Russell Holland asked the town Wednesday for support to turn over the Poquetanuck Ambulance Association’s Primary Service Agreement to the town of Preston.

There would be no additional cost to the town, Wucik said. Wucik told the Board of Selectmen Wednesday that the Poquetanuck ambulance service already is staffed by the town’s paid fulltime or part-time per diem firefighters for virtually every emergency call.

Volunteers rarely ride or drive the ambulance on calls, Wucik said.

The selectmen voted unanimously to support the changeover. First Selectwoman Sandra Allyn-Gauthier said she would seek input from the Board of Finance before sending an official letter of support to the state Department of Public Health, which must approve the change. She plans to present the issue to the finance board at its Feb. 15 meeting.

Wucik said the state approval process, the same process Hartford HealthCare must go through in its agreement to purchase American Ambulance in Norwich, is expected to take about eight months.

Financially, the town stands to gain a small amount of revenue from billed services to patients, Wucik said, and he proposed using the money to add part-time staffing and for emergency response equipment.

Currently, Poquetanuck Ambulance Association pays Preston $70,000 per year from its billed revenues to help cover costs of paid staff needed for ambulance calls. The association also pays about $30,000 per year to be placed in a fund to purchase a new ambulance. Wucik said after those costs, the association made about $25,000 in profit last year.

Resident Leigh Cremin, who attended Wednesday’s selectmen meeting, expressed concerns about how the change would affect customers’ private medical information now that the service would be run by the town. Wucik and selectmen assured Cremin that the town taking over the PSA would not change confidentiality mandates.

Holland said the ambulance association pays a third-party billing service for all calls, and private patient information and financial information remains between the service and the patient. The state sets billing rates. Holland estimated Poquetanuck Ambulance receives about $800 per ambulance ride.

Wucik said the town would need to negotiate a new contract with the billing service.

Poquetanuck Ambulance Association in the late 1990s took over the volunteer ambulance service from its sister station, Preston City Fire Department, when that department no longer could staff ambulances, expanding Poquetanuck to townwide service.

“It’s been a good run of about 25 years, but I think we’re done,” Holland told selectmen. “The money that does come in, we’ve managed to give the town back a little over $2 million (for) ambulances, paid staff, grants for different things. The money does come in every year.”

“This is a no-brainer,” Selectman Jerry Grabarek said.