Council Member at Large Jeff Russell
Council Member at Large Jeff Russell is accusing UPMC Chautauqua and Alstar of being in violation of its contract with the City of Jamestown for ambulance service.
Russell, speaking at Council’s work session Monday, said the contract signed in 2020 has been “pushed to the wayside” while more work has been pushed onto the Jamestown Fire Department “We’re buying second ambulances and everyone is ignoring this contract. And in bringing this forward, I am not bashing the workers of ALSTAR. They’re doing the best that they can with what’s given. I’m bringing this forward because I am calling out the administration and the entity of UPMC to stand by this contract because they’re not doing it now and they’re violating it on nearly an every day basis.”
The contract approved in November 2020 by Council states that,
“ALSTAR shall dedicate two fully equipped, appropriately staffed ALS- or BLS-level ambulances to serve individuals within City limits 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, as requested by the applicable emergency communications center, by or on behalf of the patient, or otherwise. ALSTAR shall make best efforts to maintain these ambulances at the ALS level. In no event shall ALSTAR provide less than 2 providers per ambulance, except in cases of emergency.”
Russell said he’s spoken with employees at ALSTAR who have told him they’re operating ambulances with only one employee. He added wants the City administration to meet with UPMC Chautauqua and ALSTAR to hold them accountable for the contract.
Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon said he’s happy to sit down with council members, city administration, and representatives of UPMC to discuss the concerns.
He said ALSTAR does respond to a large number of calls that the Fire Department does not respond to like non-emergency transports, “Generally, the Fire Department responds to ALS criteria calls only. There’s three levels: ALS criteria calls, BLS priority calls, and BLS standard calls. A lot of calls from healthcare facilities, like nursing homes in town, or physician’s offices, sometimes those are non-emergent in nature, ALSTAR handles those for us. So, everything that’s EMS related, just like a fire incident, is considered escalating until proven otherwise.”
Council reviewed a resolution to purchase a second ambulance for the Fire Department for $217,741 from WNY Bus Parts Inc. of Elma, New York. This purchase is being funded through American Rescue Plan monies.
Coon said the ambulance is needed as the Fire Department had to rely on six volunteer fire districts outside the city to respond to over 400 ambulance calls in Jamestown last year, “And we’re very appreciative when they dedicate personnel to come in. They’re donating their time to do that. But that also leaves that resource unavailable for those other districts while they’re in the city of Jamestown completing those calls in conjunction with us. I will say that a piece of Jamestown Fire equipment does respond to all of those calls as well, when we bring in a mutual aid agency in, to the best of our ability when we’re available.”
The contract between the city and UPMC is set to end in 2024.
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