Local EMS study hopes to reveal solutions to funding, staffing issues
Eight municipalities in the southwestern portion of Butler County have banded together to conduct an intergovernmental emergency medical services study to uncover what can be done in the midst of ongoing funding and staffing issues.
Cranberry Township leaders began formulating a plan for the study and then invited Evans City, Harmony, Seven Fields, Zelienople and Jackson, Forward and Lancaster townships.
“Those are the core partners that are going to conduct the study,” said Cranberry Township manager Dan Santoro. “Those EMS agencies do cover additional municipalities that we will include as a part of the evaluation process and ask them to come to the table. We’re just not asking them at this point to share in the commitment to the local match and the study.”
Butler County commissioners recently agreed to fund 80% of the study, while the municipalities will each contribute $1,200 to cover the final 20%.
Cranberry Township EMS and Harmony EMS also agreed to participate, although, those nonprofits were not asked to contribute financially. There will be no change to how those two organizations operate throughout the duration of the study.
Zelienople and Harmony were two of the more recent municipalities to approve participation.
“We largely joined the study to ensure that we have quality EMS coverage,” said Zelienople manager Andrew Spencer.
Increasing costs for local EMS services have hit a crisis point both in the state and across the country, according to Santoro. Finding viable solutions to that problem is largely what sparked the motivation to take action.
“What we’re trying to accomplish is finding potential alternative opportunities or paths for funding EMS,” Santoro said. “Right now, EMS agencies are going to their local municipalities and asking for an appropriation. As those financial times become more difficult, those EMS agencies come to their local governments and say, ‘Hey we need a bigger appropriation or we need more funding.’
“What we’re looking at is to see if there is a more sustainable way of doing that than to rely on some annual budget appropriation cycle.”
Some local EMS services in Western Pennsylvania have had to shutter their doors because of an insufficient funding.
Westmoreland County’s Jeannette EMS functioned for 63 years before a lack of funding and a low insurance reimbursement rates made operating a physical location unsustainable.
The organization now utilizes just one ambulance and uses Jeannette’s city hall as its headquarters.
Cranberry Township EMS executive director Matt Nickl said that his organization has “stayed ahead of the curve” when it comes to staffing shortages that are plaguing local departments around the country.
Still, making sure there is sufficient funding and maintaining a high retention rate among staff are two of the key topics in which he hopes to gain insight.
“Two of the things that we’re looking to get into are obviously the funding being a short-term and long-term solution for us, and that’s kind of why I like this,” Nickl said. “The other part of this is being able to build a model that entices the workforce to want to be there.
“We have a long-term goal to try to figure out how to bring EMTs into the industry and then how to we keep them and develop them into paramedics as well.”
The Pennsylvania Department of Health and Gov. Josh Shapiro have taken steps toward improving the retention rate among emergency medical technicians, including launching a $1 million tuition assistance program and increasing EMS mileage reimbursement rates with a $20.7 million investment, according to PA.gov.
Nickl said many staff members use EMT and paramedic positions as a steppingstone to other careers.
“Most of our turnover comes from career ladders,” he said. “I can’t remember many people in my tenure that make lateral moves. We’ve had a lot of people go to nursing school, physician assistant school and to medical school. It’s good that they’re progressing, but it’s a bad problem for us.”
Departments are also still feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which caused prices for necessary equipment to rise.
“COVID sped some things up, and one of the things it sped up was the cost of equipment,” Nickl said. “Back in 2016, we could buy an ambulance for $168,000. You’re probably looking at $250,000 to $350,000, depending on the unit now. The cost of equipment and the cost of staffing has really just gone through the roof.”
While he could not provide an exact date for when the study will conclude, Santoro said that the goal would be to have it completed by September 2025 at the latest.
