After relying on Crozer for EMS services for decades, Upper Darby is spending $1M to hire a Drexel Hill company
Upper Darby was one of more than a dozen Delaware County municipalities that depended on Crozer for EMS services for the past several decades.
A Drexel Hill ambulance company will take over EMS services for Upper Darby on Monday as Crozer Health phases out the services it has provided to Delaware County for decades.
Prospect Medical Holdings received bankruptcy court approval Tuesday to close Crozer-Chester Medical Center. The system provided EMS services free of charge to more than a dozen Delaware County municipalities and managed about half the county’s EMS incidents last year.
Under closing procedures approved by a bankruptcy judge Tuesday, EMS services will not fully terminate until May 2 and may be extended in some circumstances. Ending those services may harm EMS response in Delaware County, leading to slower response times as municipalities scramble to come up with solutions.
Upper Darby, one of Delaware County’s biggest towns and largest users of EMS services, announced Wednesday it would partner with STAT EMS Medical Transport, a Drexel Hill company that will begin work in the township on Monday.
Under the new agreement, Upper Darby will pay over $1 million over the next two years for STAT to make at least two advanced life support units and one basic life support unit available 24/7, said Crandall Jones, the township’s chief administrative officer.
Upper Darby Mayor Edward Brown signed and authorized the agreement unilaterally under his emergency powers. The Upper Darby Township Council will need to approve any budget adjustments required to fund the agreement, Jones said.
“Our priority has always been the safety and well-being of our residents. This alliance with STAT will provide for that,” Brown said in a statement. “I’m pleased that, through the efforts led by CAO Jones and Interim Fire Chief Brian Boyce, we were able to come up with a solution to such a critical and complex issue in a very short period.”
The Upper Darby council has for months been trying to approve a 1% income tax to bring more revenue to the township and is scheduled to vote on its third attempt next month. Jones said he was hopeful that county or state funds may be able to supplement the EMS expense.
Beginning Wednesday morning, ambulances were diverted from bringing patients to Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland and Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park.
The 911 dispatch, which is run by Delaware County, will remain operational and ambulances paid for by other municipalities will continue to travel to areas that currently rely on Crozer. But it will be up to the individual municipalities to purchase or contract for additional emergency vehicles and staffing.
Though Upper Darby is paying for STAT’s services, the ambulances will travel to calls outside the township when needed.
After Crozer’s closure was announced Monday, Brown called for regional collaboration on EMS.
Regional collaboration and some sort of cost-sharing model remain a long-term goal as discussions continue, Jones said.
“This is a step for us, for the township in the interim, as these discussions, which will take a while to happen, that we have the assurance that our residents are taken care of,” Jones said. “We’ll continue to pursue the discussion if everybody else is interested.”