Pa. EMS, Township to Settle Lawsuit

Dec. 26--The Sewickley Township Supervisors have approved a $10,000 payment to the Jeannette EMS Inc. to settle the ambulance service's 2013 lawsuit against the township supervisors for allegedly breaching its ambulance service contract by terminating the agreement in June 2013.

The three supervisors unanimously approved the lump-sum payment to the Jeannette EMS during the board's meeting on Dec. 17.

The settlement was $153,000 less than what Jeannette EMS sought in the lawsuit it filed in Westmoreland County Court in July 2013.

"Our only comments on the settlement are that it is not yet finalized and the terms are confidential," said Pittsburgh attorney William H. Stewart III, who represented the Jeannette EMS in its lawsuit.

Michael Cafasso, Jeannette EMS chief executive, could not be reached for comment.

Township Supervisor Alan Fossi said he negotiated the deal with Jeannette ambulance officials last month and offered the $10,000 payment, which the ambulance service accepted without making a counteroffer.

Solicitor Daniel Hewitt said he was not involved in the negotiations of the settlement. Both sides had filed legal documents outlining their positions, but a court date had not been set, Hewitt said.

Jeannette EMS sued the township, claiming the supervisors' breached the one-year ambulance service contract that it had signed in April 2013 when it ended the agreement.

The ambulance service claimed it lost $163,000 in net income, based on revenue generated by 1,500 calls a year and $30,000 in subscriptions from residents. It also said it spent almost $6,000 in repairs to an ambulance that would have been used in Sewickley.

The township argued in its legal response that either party had the right to terminate the agreement.

Supervisors Wanda Layman and Fossi had voted in April 2013 to replace the Sewickley Township Community Ambulance Service with Jeannette's ambulance service.

The supervisors were concerned that the Sewickley ambulance organization's financial problems, which included $200,000 in debt, raised concerns that it might be unable to handle emergency duties.

When the supervisors terminated the agreement in June 2013, Fossi said the parting was amicable and the township had not given Jeannette any money.

As part of the agreement to reinstate Community Ambulance Service on a one-year contract, Rostraver/West Newton Emergency Services Inc. was to work in conjunction with Community Ambulance Service to provide emergency services and oversee its finances.

Michael Stangroom, operations director for Rostraver/West Newton Emergency Services, told the supervisors that the Community Ambulance Service's finances now are in good shape.

"The organization is very sound. We're doing very well," Stangroom said.

Joe Napsha is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-836-5252 or jnapsha@tribweb.com.

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