The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Harleysville Area, Trappe ambulances looking into merging
New regional organization would cover dozen towns
LOWER SALFORD » With ambulance companies across the state in financial crisis, one of the answers might be mergers to form regional organizations, Don Lynch, Harleysville Area Emergency Services chief and director of operations, said at the March 1 Lower Salford Township Board of Supervisors morning work session.
The Trappe Fire Company, which includes Trappe Ambulance, is spinning off the ambulance and a first phase study by a consulting company has concluded merging HAEMS and Trappe Ambulance into a regional organization would be feasible, Lynch said. That conclusion was reached after doing a financial audit of both organizations and looking into the strengths and weaknesses of each, he said.
Talks about the possible merger began in 2019, were slowed by COVID, then resumed, he said.
“Right now EMS is in major crisis,” throughout the state, Lynch said.
“Even here at Harleysville, we are struggling day to day to make payroll,” he said. “Our newest ambulance already has 168,000 miles on it.”
The ambulance is staffed 24/7 by paid professional staff, he said.
Medicare and insurance payments to the ambulance company have slowed, he said.
Those payments used to come within about 90 days, he said.
“That has stretched out to about 160 days now, so that has affected cash flow drastically,” Lynch said.
Insurance companies and Medicare only pay the ambulance company if a patient is transported to a hospital, not if the ambulance is called and gives treatment, but the person is not then transported, he said.
HAEMS charges about $1,200 for an Advanced Life Support ambulance call, but Medicare only pays about $450, he said.
“It actually costs us about $500 to go on that call,” Lynch said.
The two ambulance companies are now ready to have the consultants begin phase two of the merger study and to move toward finalizing the merger, he said.
“Part of phase two is to come up with a long-term financial plan because that’s the key to this whole thing,” he said.
“To allow EMS to continue in this area, or anywhere in the state, there has to be another type of financial plan for long-term sustaining,” Lynch said. “Billing right now is not gonna be the answer to that.”
The other main source of funding is through membership drives, he said.
“We mail out to every resident within our coverage area. About 21 percent comes back and that’s actually on the high side for the national comparison,” Lynch said, but said that still leaves the organization running short.
“We can’t put money off to the side for new vehicles, new equipment,” Lynch said. “We can’t be competitive with wages compared to other locations.”
HAEMS is doing better than some ambulance organizations in the area, though, he said.
The Lower Salford board agreed with Lynch’s request to put in $12,500 for half of the costs of the next phase of the study. Lower Salford and Limerick, the two largest towns in the HAEMS and Trappe coverage areas, were each asked to pay half, he said.
All of the towns in the ambulance coverage area make financial contributions, with Lower Salford being a top contributor, he said.
In 2014, HAEMS and Community Ambulance Service of Green Lane merged.
Harleysville Area Emergency Services currently covers Lower Salford, Green Lane, Marlborough and portions of Franconia, Salford, Upper Salford, Upper Frederick and New Hanover, according to the HAEMS website.
“We would end up covering 12 municipalities if this was to go through,” Lynch said of the Trappe merger.
“We are talking with all 12 municipalities and they are in favor of a regional approach,” he said.
“I heartily endorse this,” Lower Salford board Chairman Doug Gifford said. “Somebody’s gotta do something.”
As part of the merger, a fair share formula will have to be developed for contributions from the towns in the ambulance coverage area, the Lower Salford board said.