Palmyra council OKs Penn State Health for ambulance service after tense meeting

After a tense discussion July23, a majority of Palmyra Borough Council members voted to keep Penn State Health Life Lion EMS services for the borough.

In a 4-2 vote, with one abstention, council members authorized a 10-year ground ambulance service provider agreement. Over the last two months, officials have been considering continuing ambulance services with Penn State , or to accept a proposal from First Aid & Safety Patrol .

Council President Beth Shearer said she voted for the agreement because of Penn State's history with the borough and the accountability this new agreement can provide.

"Penn State has been here for 28 years, and they've been doing a good job," she said. "Like the old saying goes, if it's not broke, don't fix it."

The 10-year agreement includes a $3.50 per capita fee for the first two years and $5 per capita fee for the remaining eight years. The population of Palmyra is 7,830 residents, with officials saying the borough would owe $27,405 a year for the first two years and $39,150 a year for the final eight. Penn State officials have said the fee is for growing costs.

"An agreement is important," Life Lion EMS program manager Joel Hocking said. "It is as simple as getting a quote from a plumber to do work at your house. It levels the field and puts everyone on the same line of the book. It makes us work together and holds us both accountable."

Heated questioning

Before voting on the decision, some council members had a heated discussion with the ambulance service providers. Councilman Anthony Catalani, who voted against the agreement, grilled Penn State Health representatives on why the ambulance service needed a 10-year contract after serving 28 years without one.

"You guys come from Penn State Health, which is a big corporation," he said to Life Lion representatives. "So you guys are always going to be OK in a lot of ways, and I'm very familiar with corporations. ... But also there are other places in the county, other counties that don't have contracts with ambulances, and they run perfectly smoothly. So that's like my biggest things."

When Penn State Health first came to the borough in May looking for help with growing ambulance costs, they recommended a $7 per capita fee for the first two years. When the council wanted to negotiate the fee, Catalani suggested a $4 per capita fee.

At the July 23 meeting, Catalani and council member Marcus Riddell, who also voted against the agreement, addressed not wanting to pay the fee and what the charge could mean for borough residents.

"I am not for raising taxes, period, for anything," Riddell said. "I'm not for cutting any departments for our borough, but $368,000 over the next 10 years is quite a chunk."

Penn State Health has looked to establish a contract with the borough over previous years, according to Director of Life Lion Services Keith McMinn. In the borough, 77% of patients who call 911 seek care at the Penn State Health Hershey Medical Center.

The current agreement has a clause that the borough can cancel the contract at any time with 90 days notice. A contract helps the borough hold the ambulance service accountable for not providing the service properly, McMinn said.

"(Penn State Health) is a not-for-profit health system," he said. "Funds that we make through patient billing is put back into infrastructure, building a hospital, maybe buying a new MRI machine that needs replaced (or) maybe a new ambulance for the communities that we serve. That's the way a not-for-profit health system works."

Staffing concerns

Before the council accepted Penn State Health's contract on July 23, First Aid & Safety Patrol offered a 24/7 staffed ambulance service for the borough. These units would include a 24/7 Advance Life Support squad, with officials hoping the units could be housed at the Citizen's Fire Company station.

The EMS company would not require any long-term agreement with the borough, Executive Director Greg Smith said. He added that First Aid & Safety Patrol would be willing to sign a service level agreement with the borough if the council asked.

"I'm not adverse to the word contract, I'm adverse to a decade long lockdown," he said to council members. "That would give me pause, that should give anybody pause. We're here because we can do better."

First Aid & Safety Patrol officials also said during the meeting and in their handouts that Penn State staffs the ambulance unit 30% of the time. Council members also expressed concerns about the ambulance being taken out for transport services, making it unavailable if a 911 call in the borough should come in.

Penn State Health officials said the ambulance service staffed in Palmyra is at 70% of the time, but was also next to other municipalities that have Life Lion units. Penn State Health's ambulances are used for both 911 response and for patient transport.

"We have multiple stations throughout Dauphin and Lebanon counties," Hocking said. "So we will adjust truck placements so they can be ready to respond and back up additional units if they are already committed to work."

Out of the 1,352 EMS calls for Palmyra in 2023, Life Lion responded to 99.4% of them. According to First Aid Safety's Dashboard for Palmyra , the EMS service responded to 195 incidents in 2023.

The average response time for Life Lion ambulance crew from call to being on the scene is eight minutes, according to Penn State officials.

Penn State Health has had "an excellent record" in the borough for 28 years, McMinn said. Moving forward, he promised that Penn State Health could raise that staffing level in the borough.

"You have my word that the Palmyra unit will be staffed at 100%," he said to borough council.

After the council voted to continue using Penn State's ambulance service, Smith said First Aid & Safety Patrol remains "humble in victory and defeat."

"We thought our offer was superior, but we'll certainly respect the will of the council and are grateful for the opportunity to compete," he said.

When asked about the council's vote, Shearer said a contract gives borough council a leg to stand on to hold Penn State accountable for issues like staffing.

"I do appreciate the fact that another organization showed interest, and kept coming to the meetings and vying for that spot," she said. "But it comes down to what I felt is best for the borough, and I just felt like what we had is still the best choice."

Residents looking for more information about Penn State Health Life Lion EMS can visit their website at pennstatehealth.org.

Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at mtoth@ldnews.com or on X at @DAMattToth .

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Palmyra council OKs Penn State Health for ambulance service after tense meeting