Eight additional ambulances will start service in Delaware County Saturday following Crozer’s closure
Dozens of Delaware County municipalities had relied on Crozer for EMS services. Chester and other communities are finding solutions.
Eight additional ambulances will begin serving Delaware County Saturday morning, filling the gap left behind by Crozer Health system’s closure Friday.
Lansdale-based VMSC Emergency Medical Services announced Thursday the hiring of 58 new staffers, including 42 former Crozer employees, to expand into Delaware County.
The expansion includes four ambulances in the City of Chester and an additional four that will serve Chester as well as Springfield, Marcus Hook, and Swarthmore.
Municipalities across Delaware County have been scrambling to find solutions to EMS service, and warning their residents to brace for longer wait times, since Crozer owner Prospect Medical Holdings announced on April 21 that it would close its two remaining local hospitals, Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland and Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park.
The system had provided EMS services free of charge to more than a dozen Delaware County municipalities and handled about half of the county’s EMS incidents last year. According to an agreement outlined in bankruptcy court, that service was scheduled to end Friday, though it could be extended.
Last week, Chester Mayor Stephen Roots announced he had signed a one-year agreement with VMSC to provide four ambulances to the city with staff likely based at one of the city’s existing fire stations.
Additionally, the Independence Blue Cross Foundation, AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation, and Jefferson Health provided funding to cover the cost of four ambulances for the next three months, Delaware County officials announced Friday.
“Delaware County’s leaders have been working around the clock to clean the mess left behind by Prospect’s desertion of our communities,” Delaware County Council Chair Monica Taylor said in a newsrelease. “This funding will help our municipalities provide emergency service coverage and potentially save lives.”
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While 911 dispatch is run by Delaware County, and unaffected by Crozer’s closure, it is up to individual municipalities to arrange for emergency vehicles and staffing. Ambulances are required to respond to calls across the region as needed, even if they are outside the jurisdiction that paid for the services.
Municipalities have discussed a long-term regional partnership for EMS services. They have moved forward with individual plans to ensure services while those negotiations continue.
Last week, Upper Darby, one of Delaware County’s largest municipalities, signed a $1 million contract with Drexel Hill-based STAT to cover EMS services in the township for the next two years.