Chester volunteer ambulance head sues town after contract with New Windsor-based service

[87D124 37]

By Hema Easley

Times Herald-Record

Published: 5:47 PM - 06/23/14
Last updated: 5:51 PM - 06/23/14

CHESTER — The president of the Chester Volunteer Ambulance Corps has sued the town for contracting with a private operator for emergency medical services, a move the lawsuit describes as illegal.

Filed in state Supreme Court in Goshen, the suit asks that the agreement between the Town of Chester and New Windsor-based Mobile Life Support Service be declared void.

The suit comes five months after the town terminated its 64-year-old relationship with the ambulance company, allegedly without notice, and hired Mobile Life instead to provide service in the town. The ambulance company was given 15 days notice to vacate its building, which was to be handed over to Mobile Life.

“Our volunteer corps was founded in 1949 and we had been serving Chester citizens with all volunteers as a non-profit for more than six decades,” petitioner Robert Boardman, president of the volunteer company, said in a statement. “All of the sudden, there is this illegal arrangement and citizens now have to pay more for emergency medical transportation.”

Town Supervisor Alex Jamieson rejected the allegations.

“We signed a legitimate contract with Mobile Life support,” said Jamieson. “This is a make-believe lawsuit.”

He said the town ended its contract with the ambulance corps because residents complained of poor service. The ambulance company has acknowledged in the past that it missed calls for a period because of a lack of adequate staffing, but that the problem had been rectified.

Boardman’s suit alleges the town’s agreement with Mobile Life allowed it to impose user fees higher than those charged by the ambulance corps, and collect a profit. That agreement is unconstitutional, the suit said, because municipal ambulance services are not allowed to profit from providing essential services.

It asks that profits earned by Mobile Life be returned to the town.

The lawsuit is the second between the town and the ambulance company. Earlier this year, the town sued the volunteer group for ownership of the two ambulances previously operated by the volunteer group. A decision is pending.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140623/NEWS/140629879/-1/NEWS

Edited June 24, 2014 by 87D124

[velcroMedic1987 330]

Pathetic. Pathetic on so many levels.

[Ga-Lin 86]

Who is this guy and more importantly who's advising him ! Don't they call this a nusiance lawsuit?

[Bnechis 3,961]

"Boardman’s suit alleges the town’s agreement with Mobile Life allowed it to impose user fees higher than those charged by the ambulance corps, and collect a profit. That agreement is unconstitutional, the suit said, because municipal ambulance services are not allowed to profit from providing essential services."

Unconstitutional, since when in America (a capitalist society) is it unconstitutional to make a profit?

1) Mobile Life is not a municipal ambulance service, so they are allowed too

2) Municipalities do not make a "profit". if the charge enough they may have a surplus, which can be used to support other parts of the budget, like paying to maintain the ambulance building

[SteveC7010 58]

I just discussed this general situation (not the Chester one specifically) with a NYS DOH BEMS rep in the past month. He reiterated that nothing in any state law prevents a municipality from contracting with a private company to provide ambulance service, and there is no legal restriction on that private company turning a profit. If the municipality was billing the patients directly for ambulance service, there are some laws that do prohibit the municipality from billing more than the actual cost of the service.

This is not the first case of this nature here in NYS. Google up East Rochester Volunteer Ambulance and see what happened there. It's a remarkably similar situation. The VAC was shut down, their rigs and all property turned over to the commercial outfit, and there was no recourse against the town.

It sounds to me like this guy's lawyer has no clue about the various state laws that apply in this situation. If he did, he'd never have allowed this lawsuit to get off the ground.

[EMT111 149]

Who is this guy and more importantly who's advising him !

It sounds to me like this guy's lawyer has no clue about the various state laws that apply in this situation. If he did, he'd never have allowed this lawsuit to get off the ground.

The last time i heard, Chester VAC was being advised through this process by an individual who has already had success at bring back VACs that were shut down. I don't know if this individual is still advising chester, but if he is, I wouldn't be surprised if this is part of some strategy.Secondly , even though the lawsuit might be bs, look at the publicity it generated and how it makes the town of chester and mobile life look. If I were a citizen of chester who was just basing my knowledge of the situation based off what I read in the paper, I'd be pretty upset to think that the town was letting a private company make money off the citizens, rather than use a volunteer corps.

[99subi 121]

You'd also be pretty upset when an ambulance doesn't show up at your emergency...

[chazEMT 5]

If I were a citizen of chester who was just basing my knowledge of the situation based off what I read in the paper, I'd be pretty upset to think that the town was letting a private company make money off the citizens, rather than use a volunteer corps.

I agree that the spin on the story through the media would be upsetting to a lot of the citizens. Too bad response logs, duty rosters and training attendance logs can't be made public. If the citizens of many communities were made aware of how often their volunteer EMS was unstaffed/understaffed, I'm sure there would be quite an outcry.

[Dinosaur 844]

The last time i heard, Chester VAC was being advised through this process by an individual who has already had success at bring back VACs that were shut down. I don't know if this individual is still advising chester, but if he is, I wouldn't be surprised if this is part of some strategy.Secondly , even though the lawsuit might be bs, look at the publicity it generated and how it makes the town of chester and mobile life look. If I were a citizen of chester who was just basing my knowledge of the situation based off what I read in the paper, I'd be pretty upset to think that the town was letting a private company make money off the citizens, rather than use a volunteer corps.

What VAC's have been brought back after being shut down?

I'd be more upset that my loved one may not get an ambulance because of hurt feelings when a professional agency is ready and able to do it. Chester VAC was billing too, this isn't about the billing.

[EMT111 149]

What VAC's have been brought back after being shut down?

I'd be more upset that my loved one may not get an ambulance because of hurt feelings when a professional agency is ready and able to do it. Chester VAC was billing too, this isn't about the billing.

New Windsor. And I completely agree with your point, but honestly, alot of people right now only care about using the cheapest option, until they need an ambulance, and then they get upset.

[246EMT58 7]

The last time i heard, Chester VAC was being advised through this process by an individual who has already had success at bring back VACs that were shut down. I don't know if this individual is still advising chester, but if he is, I wouldn't be surprised if this is part of some strategy.Secondly , even though the lawsuit might be bs, look at the publicity it generated and how it makes the town of chester and mobile life look. If I were a citizen of chester who was just basing my knowledge of the situation based off what I read in the paper, I'd be pretty upset to think that the town was letting a private company make money off the citizens, rather than use a volunteer corps.

Sombody ought to give the general public a lesson on how some volunteer EMS agencies work....I agree with a more cost effective option which some refer to as "cheap" but the citizens of Chester would be terrified if they knew how long it takes for a response time or how many calls were not answered by this agency....I've heard that most if not all of the members that apparently "really cared" about their ambulance corps have disapperared, nobody is around and this guy Boardman is basically doing all of this on his own. I've also heard of many good people leaving this place over the years because of how the "people who really cared" were running this place...or not running it ;-) If I lived in Chester knowing what I know, I'd be thrilled that finally this has happened. When an ambulance is needed...one will respond with qualified personel that enjoy their jobs for more reasons then just flying through the town with lights and sirens blaring in some cases with regular unmarked personal vehicles.

[AFS1970 504]

Why is it that we even have this debate in EMS but not other emergency services. Regardless of paid or volunteer for a moment, the VAC was essentially the town ambulance service. The town instead of running their own non-profit chose to contract out to a private for profit company. Now I am sure the town pays something to the company but the company bills the patients for the bulk of it. This is basically like a fair use tax, only those using the service are billed for it.

If someone was to suggest the same arrangement for fire protection (like Rural Metro) this board would erupt into a fire storm of how inadequate the Rural Metro crews were, even if they were promising better service that their predecessors. There would be calls to refuse mutual aid. But do it in EMS and well that's just fine and dandy.

I can't even imagine what the reaction would be if someone suggested privatizing police services.

[Bnechis 3,961]

Why is it that we even have this debate in EMS but not other emergency services. Regardless of paid or volunteer for a moment, the VAC was essentially the town ambulance service. The town instead of running their own non-profit chose to contract out to a private for profit company. Now I am sure the town pays something to the company but the company bills the patients for the bulk of it. This is basically like a fair use tax, only those using the service are billed for it.

If someone was to suggest the same arrangement for fire protection (like Rural Metro) this board would erupt into a fire storm of how inadequate the Rural Metro crews were, even if they were promising better service that their predecessors. There would be calls to refuse mutual aid. But do it in EMS and well that's just fine and dandy.

I can't even imagine what the reaction would be if someone suggested privatizing police services.

One big difference. Almost every EMS bill is in large part paid for with a 3rd party insurance.

Also the fire service started out that way (insurance company paying for protection) and it was a disaster. Most cities stopped it, when they determined it was causing arson, riots and conflagrations.

Also, Fire Department funding in most cities is used to reduce insurance premiums and promote development. Good fire depts. help economic development, EMS does not do that.

[201/65 94]

New Windsor. And I completely agree with your point, but honestly, alot of people right now only care about using the cheapest option, until they need an ambulance, and then they get upset.

When volunteers dont get out, it taxes the commercial services that have to cover. Commercial services put on a certain amount of units to cover a projected call volume. When they are constantly running calls in areas that are supposed to have their own units, other areas suffer. Most times commercials staff ALS units. Now the medic is tied up doing routine calls that could have been handled by the VAC. I would gladly take the bill for myself or my family, from any commercial service that is going to respond in a timely manner and have an ALS provider onboard when one is needed. Just makes sense. How many times have you seen a VAC get dispatched for the person with a foot injury type call and no crew? Then 15 minutes later the pin job comes in and every member is suddenly available. Dont get me wrong. I have no problem with VAC's that provide good service. Just the ones that dont and then complain when the town replaces them. New Windsor is a good example of a successful VAC. They have come a long way over the years and have a very dedicated volunteer base. Hats off to them.

Not trying to take anything away from the true volunteers in New Windsor, but to call them a VAC is far from the truth. When they reopened they required significant career staffing during various hours, and still do. While they are now an ALS agency it only relies more on career staffing to supplement the volunteers.

It brings back that old question, when do we have to change our name to drop the false adjective?

[chazEMT 5]

Bottom line - if the agency, whether volunteer or paid, is not fulfilling the one purpose for which they exist - COVERING CALLS - then changes need to be implemented. Whether those changes include "firing" the agency, augmenting the staff, or something else is a case-by-case solution. But the patient has to come first. Hanging on to an ineffective service due to loyalty or out of fear of "ruffling feathers" is ludicrous!

[houlidsa 76]

I passed a Chester Ambulance pick up last week in Newburgh, are they back "in business"?

[246EMT58 7]

As far as I know cvac owned only one out of three ambulances along with two first response vehicles...the other two larger ambulances were purchased by the town. If they aren't joy riding (which really wouldn't surprise me at all) they may have been doing a medical transport that they were hired to do. From what I heard CVAC (whatever or more specifically whomever is left) received permission from NYS to continue doing so.

[EMT111 149]

I passed a Chester Ambulance pick up last week in Newburgh, are they back "in business"?

As far as I know cvac owned only one out of three ambulances along with two first response vehicles...the other two larger ambulances were purchased by the town. If they aren't joy riding (which really wouldn't surprise me at all) they may have been doing a medical transport that they were hired to do. From what I heard CVAC (whatever or more specifically whomever is left) received permission from NYS to continue doing so.

He means the Chester VAC pick up truck. The guy driving the Chester VAC pick up truck is an Emstar medic, I'm not really sure what connection he has to Chester Vac. Chester Vac is techinically still around with a 7 digit number, mobile life is still doing the 911 jobs. As I understand it, Chester is doing just enough calls to keep their CON. However, the last real member they had, the Robert Boardman from the article, is now FDNY EMS, and isn't doing any volly work as far as I know, so I think they're kinda screwed.

Edited October 5, 2014 by EMT111