Donation Drive Leads to Scrutiny of N.Y. Squad`s Finances

Jan. 06--MOREAU -- Moreau Emergency Squad is facing criticism as it tries to get donations for a $1.5 million expansion project.

Some community members have openly questioned the squad's finances, and at a recent public hearing, a Town Board member questioned whether the squad was endangering residents' lives.

Afterward, Executive Director Steve Van Guilder opened his books to The Post-Star and defended the squad's statistics.

At issue is partly the fact that the squad uses both paid staff and volunteers.

Town Board member Gina LeClair noted that it can take precious minutes for volunteers to get to the station, get into an ambulance, and drive to the emergency.

"That's life. Time is heart muscle. Time is brain tissue," she said.

She said the squad should only tell the 911 system about the ambulances that are staffed by paid paramedics. If those ambulances are all busy, she said the 911 center should call for another company to handle the emergency rather than waiting for volunteers.

Van Guilder acknowledged that volunteers have five minutes to say they're taking a call. After that, 911 dispatchers send the call to another company. Those companies are farther away, so it takes longer for them to get to the emergency.

But within those five minutes, volunteers almost always take the call, he said.

"In the last year, our mutual aid is 0.3 percent," he said after the public hearing. "Which is amazing."

That means other companies only have to take Moreau's calls 0.3 percent of the time.

"We thrive on that excellence in Moreau," he said.

Town Board member Todd Kusnierz agreed, saying that in other parts of the state, people must wait upwards of 40 minutes for a paramedic. Leaving for the call in under five minutes in almost every case is unusual, he said.

"That's an exceptionally low number for a community of our size," he said.

Two ambulances are always staffed in the station, by paid paramedics or volunteers, Van Guilder said. The squad has a total of four ambulances and two first-response vehicles.

That's more than the building can hold, but call volume has increased enough that they sometimes need all six vehicles, he said. One of the goals of the $1.5 million expansion is to add garage bays for the vehicles.

But few people have donated so far. Some have questioned why the company, which is paid for its ambulance rides, needs to ask for donations.

The squad has a $900,000 budget. That's funded partly by Moreau and Northumberland. Moreau chips in $226,000 for operating expenses, including gasoline and utilities. Northumberland pays $83,000, also for operating expenses.

That's important because insurance payments for ambulance rides won't cover operating costs, Van Guilder said.

Insurance will only cover payroll, which is $500,000 to $600,000 a year, he said.

Whether the squad pulls in that much each year depends on what patients they get.

Medicaid and Medicare don't offer enough to cover the cost of paid staff caring for the patient, Van Guilder said. Private insurance reimbursements are high enough to cover the true costs of service.

He's hopeful that the squad will end 2016 in the black -- but it will be close, and there won't be enough to start paying for the expansion. He just wants to break even.

"I think we're on the right track this year. But it depends on the payer mix," he said.

You can reach Kathleen Moore at 742-3247 or kmoore@poststar.com. Follow her on Twitter @ByKathleenMoore or at her blog on www.poststar.com.

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