Spencerport Volunteer Ambulance president Bruce Jones told those attending a public information meeting January 16, that the key message officials want to get across to the public regarding the pending merger of SVA and Gates Volunteer Ambulance Service is that both entities “want to make sure to preserve community-based ambulance service going forward. The combined organization will be financially sound in the future,” Jones said.
About 40 residents of Spencerport, Ogden and Gates as well as municipal leaders from each community attended the meeting held at the Ogden Town Hall.
Jones and GVAS president Kevin Sura provided details regarding the consolidation and answered questions from those in attendance.
The merger will allow SVA to get its call coverage up to above 95 percent, Jones said. Currently, it is at 85 percent.
He explained how that will be accomplished. When a call comes in for the Spencerport Ambulance, “an additional ambulance at Gates headquarters (1001 Elmgrove Road) will head to Spencerport,” Jones said. That extra ambulance will be available from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., he added.
The merged ambulance service will staff three ambulances 24-7, officials said, with a fourth staffed during the 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. hours.
During the transition period, a person from either the SVA Board of Directors, an SVA member, or a resident, will sit on the GVAS Board for a period of two years. That extra position will dissolve after two years, Jones said. He added that a transition committee will be formed which will be led by two current Board members – one from Spencerport and one from Gates.
Costs will be handled separately, he explained. Gates residents pay a tax for their ambulance service; in Spencerport, the ambulance depends on donations, an annual fund drive and third party billing.
Jones said when the merger takes place following state approval, the SVA will dissolve, the corporation and board of directors will also dissolve. Assets will be transferred to Gates and all property will become the property of Gates Ambulance.
However, he emphasized, “residents in Spencerport will not see a change – the name (Spencerport) will remain on the Spencerport Ambulance.”
Gates Volunteer Ambulance Service is also ready and able to continue to facilitate the Lions Club Medical Loan Closet in Spencerport and Jones said groups like the Lions Club (Braille classes) and Little League which use the station at 116 Lyell Avenue will continue to have ongoing access.
Kevin Sura, president of GVAS, described Gates Ambulance as a “family-based organization. We are looking forward to bringing people in and are intent on keeping the identity of Spencerport going. A community-based volunteer ambulance must remain in our communities,” he said.
He noted the merger would help save on purchasing of materials for both ambulances, by increasing purchasing power.
Gates residents in attendance expressed some concern over how the merger would benefit them and worried their taxes might be going to benefit residents outside the Gates ambulance district.
Gates Town Supervisor Mark Assini reiterated that the costs of both ambulances will be kept separate and that the merger would stabilize costs in the long run.
“The cost structure is going down,” he explained. “You’re getting the same service, the same response time while spreading the cost out.”
“If we don’t do something, in time we’re going to go away,” Kevin Sura added.
“We want to prolong what we’ve had for decades.
“A lot of people are watching this,” he noted of the merger. “Consolidation has been a political baseball (for years).”
Regulatory approvals for the merger are expected sometime during the first half of this year, officials said.
