The recently formed Exeter Township Professional Fire & EMS union hopes to rally support from the public to force the township to abandon switching its emergency medical responder to Life Lion EMS, according to Michael Leagans Sr., union president.
"Our most important request is that the township residents stand up and protect themselves by making sure that Life Lion doesn't get in," he said.
Last month, Exeter supervisors voted 5-0 to allow the township solicitor to negotiate a contract with Milton S. Hershey Medical Center-based Life Lion, citing financial concerns for the need to switch.
The move comes in the midst of tensions between the township's fire department and the EMS workers it oversees, Leagans said.
He claims that money isn't why the township is switching to Life Lion, but it's instead the result of poor management by the fire company that opted to get out of EMS altogether rather than solve its problems.
It looks like "they just got overwhelmed and instead of trying to figure out how to fix it, they wanted to give up," Leagans said.
The Exeter Fire Department issued a news release stating it would not comment publicly on the situation with its workers, but would deal with them directly.
"We are ready, willing and able to meet with EMS employees and their certified union representatives," the release says. "While we have not been contacted by any representative of that union to date, we would welcome the opportunity to sit down with them and to address whatever concerns exist."
Fire Chief Robert F. Jordan declined to comment outside of the news release.
Leagans said that the union did reach out weeks ago, but was referred to the fire department's attorney, who did not indicate the other side was willing to talk at that time.
However, Leagans is encouraged by the announcement and looks forward to opening a dialogue.
"Our true intent is to sit down and work this thing out," he said.
Township Supervisor Jeff Bukowski declined to comment on the alleged issues between the fire department and EMS workers, but maintains that it is a financial problem where revenues are not meeting projections, which would have required money from the township.
"So faced with that, we wanted to look for alternatives, and we learned about the recent hiring of Life Lion by Fleetwood," Bukowski said.
Already a go in Fleetwood
Life Lion is expected to take over the management this month of Fleetwood Volunteer Fire Company's EMS division, which covers Fleetwood Borough and Richmond, Rockland, Ruscombmanor and Maidencreek townships.
The Exeter EMS union organized May 22, a day before Exeter's supervisors cast their votes to switch EMS providers in the face of dissent from many of the approximately 60 people, including many first responders, who attended that meeting.
Forming the EMS union doesn't affect the vote because the fire department's EMS workers are not township employees.
Bukowski said the supervisors voted because there was concern about timing and they didn't want to have a gap in EMS service.
He said he was comfortable with that because of "the fact that we really didn't vote on a final agreement. We voted to move forward."
There still needs to be another vote on the actual contract when it is finalized, Bukowski said.
If an agreement is reached, Life Lion would become the third EMS provider for Exeter in three years.
In December 2014, the township designated Exeter Township Fire Department as its primary 9-1-1 responder, replacing the Exeter Ambulance Association following months of tense discussions between the township and EAA, capped by the association's announcement that without township funding, it would shutter its 9-1-1 service in 90 days.
'It's been bad'
The fire department took over in March 2015 and the transition began smoothly.
Fire department supervisors tried hard at the start, but eventually communication with the EMS workers broke down, according to Leagans.
Leagans said phone calls and emails to their superiors would go unanswered and it was difficult to get supplies, such as uniforms and drugs, in a timely manner.
"It's been bad for six months," Leagans said. "It was not good for a year."
The crux of the issue is communication, which Leagans says could be easily fixed if those in charge would sit down to discuss a solution.
"This isn't an attack on our chiefs," Leagans added. "This is only an acknowledgement that, hey, we have to work together. That's all we want to do."
The lack of communication is why the workers felt they needed to form the union, so they could have a voice, Leagans said.
Life Lion plans to offer jobs to all current emergency responders in the township as long as they meet the requirements of working at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, such as a background check.
More than EMS workers
But it's not that simple, according to Leagans.
All of Exeter's EMS workers are cross-trained as firefighters as well.
Outside of Reading, Exeter is the only other municipality in the county that has first responders with that level of training, Leagans said.
If they took jobs with Life Lion, they would not be allowed to work that dual role.
"They have a very elite group of men and women here that they really worked hard to get," Leagans said. "Most of us were recruited. We left other full-time jobs to come here because that's where our passions were."
Life Lion would also not provide the same level of coverage and its workers would not be as skilled, Leagans said.
In its proposal to Exeter, Life Lion would have an ambulance available 24 hours a day, seven days a week as well as a second unit operating 12 hours a day, seven days a week with additional units available from Penn State Health St. Joseph hospital, as needed.
Under the fire department, Exeter has an ambulance available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and a second unit running 16 hours a day; the second unit's sole responsibilities are emergency calls in the township and to surrounding municipalities if needed, Leagans said.
Additional duties
About 40 percent of Life Lion's calls are non-emergency medical transports for the hospital system, according to Life Lion's presentation last month.
Leagans is concerned about response times slowing because of Life Lion's non-emergency transport responsibilities.
"I know it was one of the stated concerns and I think it's an issue worth discussing and I think the situation's flexible enough that if we find extended service is needed, we could probably make sure there's additional coverage," Bukowski said.
In last month's presentation to the township supervisors, Life Lion Program Manager Scott Buchle said if additional units from St. Joseph hospital are needed, they will respond only to non-emergency calls in Exeter because of the distance. Instead, Life Lion would tap into mutual aid for emergency calls.
No subscription service
Another concern held by Leagans, as well as many of the residents who attended Life Lion's presentation, is what the new EMS provider could mean for their wallets.
The fire department offers an ambulance subscription service, allowing residents to pay an annual fee so that any costs incurred for an ambulance ride to the hospital will be billed directly to that person's insurance providers.
Nonsubscribers are billed directly, but even for those with insurance, most plans cover just a portion, making the rest an out-of-pocket expense, according to the fire department's website.
For subscribers, whatever is not covered by their insurance is written off.
Revenue from subscriptions this year totaled about $100,000, Leagans said.
"That is a significant amount of our yearly budget that we know is coming in and we can invest it and spend it wisely," he said.
Because of Medicare and Medicaid rules, Life Lion cannot offer a subscription service.
It could prove problematic for patients if Life Lion is called to assist in other townships that have similar membership programs. Right now, Exeter EMS honors other municipalities' subscriptions.
Life Lion's response
While Life Lion can't participate in these programs, Buchle said Hershey Medical Center does not do balance billing, which is billing patients for the difference between what their insurance covers and what the total charge is.
He added that the hospital system offers services to patients who have difficulty paying their bills, including potential waiver of the bill.
Bukowski said no decisions have been made yet about possible refunds of the money paid by residents for subscriptions, but he hopes to negotiate with Life Lion for it to honor the subscriptions for the rest of the year.
"The supervisors take their obligation to provide for public safety very seriously, and we're looking to do what's in the best interest of the community," Bukowski said.
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