The Village of Brockport ambulance contract is ending at the end of April and the village is not going to renew the contract.
At the last few board meetings, the Village Board has discussed their options. One option is to go with Monroe Ambulance, which the towns of Sweden and Clarkson use. The Village Board brought in a representative of Monroe Ambulance at the March 17 board meeting to talk about what they have to offer. Representatives from both Sweden and Clarkson were present in the audience. The Monroe Ambulance representative said that if the Village of Brockport were to join the towns of Sweden and Clarkson, Monroe Ambulance would have three ambulances in the area. One would be here all the time and the other two would be used as mutual aid, if necessary. Also, the Monroe representative stated they have three EMS training classes this year, and next year they would have five classes.
The other option for the Village of Brockport is to use Mercy Ambulance, which the Town of Hamlin and Village of Holley use. At the Village Board workshop on March 24, one of the trustees suggested that the board hear from Mercy. Most of the members decided not to.
Since the board represents the taxpayers and community, I feel it is irresponsible that they would not listen to Mercy Ambulance. The Village may still decide to use Monroe, but it is the Village Board’s obligation to listen to all options and get all information, then discuss the pros and cons of each. I believe Mercy has contracts with all of Orleans County and the Town of Hamlin at a lower cost than Monroe. Also, by speaking to Mercy, the Village would have their contact information for the future. There are so many questions that need to be answered. Why not talk to the other municipalities that use Mercy and see what their experiences are?
The Brockport Village Board is supposed to represent the taxpayers and community. All the community is asking is for them to get all the information and make the best decision. Also, it would be good if the board showed the information to the public and disclosed how they came to their decision.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the towns of Sweden, Clarkson and Hamlin and the villages of Holley and Brockport (possibly others) could come together and see what the ambulance service that is chosen could offer all the municipalities?
Kevin Jenkins
Brockport
Mayor explains decision on ambulance service
It was apparent from the discussion at the Village Board workshop of March 24 how the majority of the board came to the conclusion that they did regarding ambulance service. To begin with, we needed to make a decision before the end of our contract with Brockport Ambulance (April 30). We had heard from Monroe on March 17 at a village board meeting what would be involved with serving three communities instead of two in this area, and they gave a full explanation of slow response times during the winter surge in RSV, COVID, and flu – increased demand, overcrowded emergency rooms, and waiting for beds for patients being delivered by ambulance.
With unlimited research time, it might have been useful to put out an RFP for ambulance service to see what Mercy or other providers could offer Brockport. A large part of our decision had to do with the other two communities here (Sweden and Clarkson) served by Monroe and the two towns’ evaluation of Monroe’s service. I spoke with both supervisors before the board decided what to do, and they stated: 1. They were satisfied with Monroe; 2. No residents in either town had complained about Monroe; 3. The towns were not interested in pursuing Mercy or any other ambulance service at the present time.
Given the situation, it made no sense to see if Mercy would even be interested in serving a portion of an area already covered by another ambulance company. As for the cost of service, I do not believe the writer’s claims are accurate. On two different occasions nine months apart, I went to the ER by ambulance, once with Mercy and once with Monroe. Both companies are funded by third party billing, which bills the patient’s insurance company; the insured pays any difference. The charges from the two companies were identical, $35.
The door has not been closed on any other ambulance company serving Brockport, but for now, on behalf of our residents, we believe we made the logical and sensible decision.
Margay Blackman, Mayor
Village of Brockport
