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First responders hope for local action,…
First responders hope for local action, regional unity as advanced life support crisis intensifies
Concerned first responders and local elected officials united in Parkesburg on July 27 to discuss the imminent departure of Medic 93 units from Western Chester County. (JEN SAMUEL — MEDIANEWS GROUP)
By Jen Samuel | jsamuel@dailylocal.com | Daily Local News
PUBLISHED: August 5, 2022 at 5:23 p.m. | UPDATED: August 9, 2022 at 5:29 p.m.
PARKESBURG — The summer is hot yet the pressure first responders in Chester County are facing to answer the Good Samaritan call of service to help others with advanced life support is about to reach a boiling point.
In less than a month, on September 1, Tower Health is scheduled to pull multiple Medic 93 Advanced Life Support (ALS) units from stations throughout the county's western landscape. Specifically, ALS units will no longer operate from Coatesville, Parkesburg and Caln.
From those three stations, Medic 93 currently provides primary Advanced Life Support coverage to Modena, South Coatesville, West Brandywine, East Brandywine, Newlin and West Bradford. And again, that is set to change on September 1. And the absence is creating a void, one first responders across Chester County are calling "a crisis."
"The best solution will be to have municipal officials and the Emergency Medical Services work together to address the problem of Tower Direct closing in Western Chester County and for all organizations to work together to effectively continue to provide the service we are providing to the best of our abilities," said Fire Chief Brian Gathercole of the Keystone Valley Fire Department in Parkesburg.
"The matter being discussed is a situation that needs to be addressed and the only way to get this matter addressed is if everyone works together and gets a better understanding of how the system works and what needs done in order to make it better and sustainable. All municipalities need to communicate and work together for a solution," Gathercole said.
"This did not happen overnight and is something that would come to the forefront at some point. All of the Emergency Medical Services are doing the best that they can with the resources that they have. Everyone is adapting to the change and continuing to provide the best service and care possible," the Keystone Valley fire chief said.
"We are working to help another organization take over these critical emergency services in Western Chester County as soon as possible. And I have appealed to Tower Health to maintain ALS Medic 93 services there until a new provider can resume services to the impacted communities," said State Senator Carolyn Comitta of West Chester on Wednesday.
"Unfortunately, Tower Health has not given enough advance notification to provide for a seamless transition," Comitta said.
"After Tower abruptly closed both Jennersville and Brandywine hospitals, we did succeed in attracting ChristianaCare to buy Jennersville," the senator said.
Fire Chief Brian Gathercole of the Keystone Valley Fire Department holds an informational session on Emergency Medical Services and the need for Advanced Life Support on July 27 at Parkesburg Point on Main Street. (JEN SAMUEL)
ChristianaCare purchased Jennersville Regional Hospital, plus 24 adjacent acres and two office buildings, for $8 million from Tower Health in June.
Comitta said that there is a collective effort working to find a new owner and operator for Brandywine. Furthermore, "I continue to work with our partners at the county and our state legislative delegation to help expedite the process of establishing a new ALS service provider," she stated.
"Still, to many residents, this feels like our communities are being abandoned for a third time," Comitta said.
"This is a decision that we have not taken lightly, but it is necessary as a result of the closure of the Brandywine and Jennersville hospitals," said Dr. Charles Barbera, senior vice president of Tower Health and president of Reading Hospital, in a released statement issued on June 7.
"First responders — firefighters, police officers, and EMTs — have served our community tirelessly in extremely challenging conditions. It is my hope that the budget shortfalls that our ALS providers are experiencing are appropriately addressed by all involved municipalities and by the Pennsylvania Department of Health," said U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan.
"While this is primarily an issue for local government, the health and well-being of our community impacts all of us. I'll continue to work collaboratively to assist Pennsylvanians and our first responders with federal programs such as ARP and grant opportunities, including Community Project Funding for the Keystone Valley Fire Department's EMT squad located in Parkesburg."
Now until Sept. 1, Tower Direct has operated three units in Western Chester County: MICU 93, which operates still out of the closed Brandywine Hospital, Medic 393 in Coatesville, and Medic 293 at Keystone Valley Fire Department in Parkesburg.
By September 1, Tower Health will be relocating its Advanced Life Support operations elsewhere to Elverson and Honey Brook.
Once that happens, Westwood Fire Company EMS units and possibly units from Minquas Fire Company in Downingtown, will be the closest first responders to these towns in Western Chester County.
Additionally, it is anticipated that Medic 94, based in Penn Township in Southern Chester County, will also begin answering emergency calls in Parkesburg and elsewhere in the county's western region.
Chuck Freese is the emergency management coordinator for Southern Chester County. He serves on the board of directors for Medic 94, a nonprofit which provides primary ALS services to 18 municipalities.
"Medic 94, with their community-based board of directors, has been a proven product with the southern portion of the county since 1983," Freese said. "Logic would dictate at least exploring a workable funding model with them and the possibility of expanding their service area to cover those municipalities in need."
Freese said that municipal leaders are already aware that Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support services cost money but save lives.
"Residents supporting those services with private donations and township and borough tax dollars would be investing in professional emergency responses that may one day save their life or the lives of their loved ones," Freese said.
"The cost of our fire and EMS services are not always the first thing to come to mind when planning family budgets. But time and again, when the need arises and we are fortunate to have them respond, we never forget they were there for us," he said.
"Now is the time for us to be there for them," Freese added.
Tower Health's decision to remove Medic 93 from areas previously served by Brandywine and Jennersville Regional hospitals will add additional burdens, from staffing to financial strains from gas costs to essential supplies, to emergency medical service units.
"Municipalities and EMS agencies need to strengthen their relationships and collaborate to ensure their areas are adequately covered and funded to provide both basic life support and advanced life support services," said Charles Brogan IV, president of the Chester County EMS Council, Inc.
Western Chester County has enjoyed Medic 93, also referred to as TowerDIRECT, providing the Advanced Life Support services at no cost to the community for many years.
"With Tower Health's decision to shift their services to other geographic areas, municipalities are now faced with the sudden need to help fund the Advanced Life Support — paramedic — services left to cover the area," Brogan said.
"It's important to acknowledge that the EMS agencies can bill insurers for their services, however they are likely to receive below-cost reimbursements from them. It will certainly not be enough to cover the cost of providing the services to the community," he said.
Further, "a hospital-based Advanced Life Support service ending isn't a new challenge in Chester County. At one point all five hospitals in Chester County provided Advanced Life Support to their local communities," Brogan said.
"Over the past two decades, those services have been transitioned to the local fire companies and EMS agencies. These smaller, most likely non-profit organizations, cannot sustain the full cost of providing the service to the community. It is ultimately the local municipalities responsibility to ensure these services are funded so their residents have the emergency medical services they need," Brogan said on Thursday.
"Municipalities and elected officials have a responsibility to educate themselves on the costs necessary to provide the service that their community needs," Brogan said. "EMS agencies have a responsibility to ensure they are delivering efficient services and being transparent with their finances when engaging municipal officials for support. Many agencies in Chester County do a wonderful job with this and have developed excellent working relationships with the municipalities they serve."
As for how towns can work together for solutions, Brogan called for a regional approach.
A regional approach to the EMS funding challenge is ideal with the caveat that one solution does not fit all. An EMS agency in one community may have different challenges and different demands for their services compared to another community. This is why it is so important that municipal officials and EMS agencies engage each other and have this discussion," Brogan said.
"Every EMS agency is going to need financial support. There is just no way around that with the skyrocketing costs associated with providing emergency medical services to the community," he said.
On July 27, Keystone Valley Fire Department organized a meeting and invited first responders, municipal lawmakers and other stakeholders at Parkesburg Point on Main Street.
Towns with municipal representatives in attendance included Parkesburg Borough, West Sadsbury Township, Highland Township, Sadsbury Township, East Fallowfield Township, Modena Borough and Avondale Borough.
Both the Parkesburg Police and West Sadsbury Township Police were also in attendance.
Chester County Commissioner Josh Maxwell speaks at the close of the meeting with first responders and local leaders united during a regional meeting in Parkesburg on July 27. (JEN SAMUEL — MEDIANEWS GROUP)
Additionally, Keystone Valley Regional Fire District, Southern Chester County Emergency Medical Services — Medic 94, Westwood Fire Company, Elverson Honey Brook EMS, Cochranville Fire Company, Modena Fire Company, Wagontown Fire Company and Lancaster County-based White Horse EMS all were represented at the meeting.
Chester County Commissioner Josh Maxwell was also present.
"We need to make sure our ALS providers have the resources to expand service to cover the area and staff up. ALS is expensive and without the service from Tower Health, we need annual funding models for these agencies to provide the best possible services," said Maxwell on Thursday.
"The burden is lower when everyone is chipping in. Many of our municipalities have been meeting with local EMS leadership to talk about who they will be getting the service from and how those costs can be covered," Maxwell said.
"The county doesn't have the legal ability to implement an EMS tax or set up an emergency services authority, however, the county plays a big role in making sure calls go to the closest ALS provider through the 9-1-1 center," Maxwell said. "We started meeting with the ALS providers to find the most appropriate way the County could support them if needed. Those discussions are ongoing."
Maxwell is visiting every fire company in Chester County, he told first responders on July 27.
According to the Office of the State Fire Commissioner in Harrisburg, in the 1970s, on average there were roughly 300,000 active firefighters across the state. Today, that number has been reduced by 90 percent or so, down to around 30,000.
"Chester County has a proud tradition of top-tier emergency services," the commissioner said. "The vacuum that the loss of Tower Health has brought, I believe, will allow us to backfill with better, local ALS providers. It won't be easy or quick, but we have the capacity and the will as a community to meet the challenge."
Jen Samuel | Reporter
Jen Samuel is a writer with experience in journalism beginning as a beat reporter for the Avon Grove Sun in 2006. Press awards won include investigative and First Amendment reporting. An out-of-the-box thinker who helps people and communities with a compassionate heart, while taking a break from journalism in 2014, Jen worked with lawmakers in New Jersey to enact laws for the protection of endangered species including to protect elephants from extinction through the abolishment of ivory sales. Jen began working at the Daily Local News as a reporter on January 20, 2020.
jsamuel@dailylocal.com
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