Delavan Rescue Squad to close at end of March

City to consider options for replacing service

By Michael S. Hoey

CORRESPONDENT

The Delavan Rescue Squad, which has served the City of Delavan and Town of Richmond since the early 1950s, will close March 31.

Mayor Mel Nieuwenhuis read a statement from the Rescue Squad at the Jan. 14 Common Council meeting.

“For close to 75 years, the City of Delavan has received emergency response services from Delavan Rescue Squad Inc., a separate, independent not-for-profit corporation,” the statement read.

“It is with regret that we advise the public that due to a number of financial challenges further impacted by the state of the economy over the last several years, this not-for-profit corporation, Delavan Rescue Squad Inc., will be transitioning out of the business,” the statement read. “The City of Delavan and the Delavan Rescue Squad want to assure the public that we are working together to ensure continuation of 911 emergency medical response service throughout this transition process.”

Tom O’Neill, operations director and member of the Board of Directors for the Rescue Squad, thanked the citizens of Delavan and the city for their support.

“It is a sad day that it has come to this,” he said. “We will do what is in the best interest of the workers and the citizens, and there will be no interruption of 911 service.”

O’Neill said the Rescue Squad has always had financial challenges. Two years ago, the administration was removed, and the new administration was faced with critical debt. O’Neill said the tough economic times have made it difficult for many people to pay for Rescue Squad services, and the organization has more than $800,000 in unpaid and uncollectable bills.

The city has tried to help the Rescue Squad by making extra payments. The 2012 contract between the city and the Rescue Squad was for $25,000. The city paid an additional $72,000 to help the Rescue Squad get by, said Administrator Denise Pieroni.

“The city was great,” O’Neill said. “They bailed us out and saved the EMS for a year.”

O’Neill said the not-for-profit organization has served the community at no cost for years including a Board of Directors that works for free. He said the city stepped up and helped the organization, but unfortunately it was not enough.

“We helped them because we believed they are the best in the business,” Nieuwenhuis said. “We wanted to help them get over the hump, and it just hasn’t happened.”

Nieuwenhuis said part of the problem is that the Rescue Squad doesn’t get full reimbursement for Medicare patients because it is a not-for-profit corporation, and it has had problems collecting money owed to it.

Pieroni said the city made additional payments to the Rescue Squad because it was committed to providing paramedic-level service to the community. Nieuwenhuis agreed. He said the city has been lucky to have such a high level of emergency response service.

O’Neill said the Rescue Squad has provided paramedic service since 2001. Other area departments have emergency medical technicians, who are not as qualified as paramedics. The Rescue Squad provides two paramedic units in the city and often transports patients between area medical facilities.

“We have worked very closely with Mercy Walworth to be very aggressive and good at what we do,” O’Neill said.

Fire Chief Neill Flood said the Rescue Squad has provided A+ service over the years.

“The service we have had has been better than anyone else in Walworth County,” he said. “The level of employees the Rescue Squad has is phenomenal. We have been blessed for years.”

The Rescue Squad has 11 full-time employees and 15 part-time and volunteer employees. O’Neill said every effort will be made to ensure every employee has a place to go.

“Our main goals are to keep people employed and keep the citizens protected,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill said any last-minute efforts to save the Rescue Squad are unlikely. He said the $800,000 shortfall would have to be covered, and it is unlikely the city could help with that. Pieroni said the city is looking at options to help the Rescue Squad but is only committed to the organization until March 31.

O’Neill said it is more likely the Rescue Squad will be purchased by another company. He said five companies have already shown an interest.

“Everything is in limbo right now,” said Flood. “I am hopeful someone will take over the Rescue Squad.”

Nieuwenhuis said the city could contract with the company that buys the Rescue Squad or another company. The city could also provide in-house EMT service through the fire department, but Nieuwenhuis said that would be expensive, and the new fire station might not have enough room to house it.

“I don’t think we have the room,” said Flood. “The building was designed as a fire station.”

Flood said the department considered building the station with room for the Rescue Squad, but the organization was not interested at the time.

“They had just moved into a building they liked,” he said. “The building is not designed to house a rescue squad without alterations.”

Nieuwenhuis and Pieroni said the city is financially prepared at least for 2013 to provide services. The 2013 budget earmarks $30,000 for the Rescue Squad, and the city set aside up to $96,000 in case the Rescue Squad needed more help. That money can now be used for whatever option the city decides on in replacing the Rescue Squad.

Nieuwenhuis said the city has a contract with the Rescue Squad through 2015, and he hopes whichever company buys it will honor that contract. But he said there are no guarantees.

“The city will have to decide if it wants paramedic or EMT service with paramedic back-up,” Nieuwenhuis said.

The city could contract with Paratech or Medix as a backup if it decides to form its own EMT service.

City officials said replacing the service the Rescue Squad has provided will be difficult.

“I wouldn’t want anyone else,” Nieuwenhuis said. “They are the best.”

“They have been wonderful,” Pieroni said. “They have been very committed and they will be hard to replace.”

“We have experienced the very best paramedic service in the area,” Police Chief and Assistant Fire Chief Tim O’Neill said. “Sometimes the EMS ambulance beats our squad cars to the scene.

“I can’t say enough about the service and I hope that level can be maintained,” O’Neill said.

“I want to thank the people who have served over the years and affected the lives of thousands in 75 years,” Tom O’Neill said. “They have made the Rescue Squad what it was.”