Upper Darby to ditch Crozer Health ambulance services amid staffing woes

From Delco to Chesco and Montco to Bucks, what about life in Philly’s suburbs do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

Upper Darby is dropping cash-strapped Crozer Health as its emergency medical service provider amid a temporary staffing shortage.

“This issue reflects broader challenges within the Crozer Health system,” Upper Darby interim Fire Chief Brian Boyce said in a statement. “In response, Upper Darby is actively working to transition to a new EMS provider to ensure more stable and sustainable emergency services.”

Boyce did not specify which EMS provider would take over or when, and Crozer did not respond to a request for comment. In a Facebook post, STAT Medical Transport owner Ron Berardocco said the township reached out for the Drexel Hill-based company to step in.

“STAT Medical Transport has agreed to provide two 24-hour ALS [advanced life support] Transport Units to the township with the intent to start services on a date to be determined by the township,” Berardocco said.

The township will financially support the new Upper Darby units, according to STAT Medical Transport. The company plans to hire about 10 emergency medical technicians and 10 paramedics.

Ambulatory services in Upper Darby are currently running at a restricted level, which began Sunday evening and is expected to last through Tuesday morning. Kate Denney, president of the Crozer-Chester Paramedics Association, said a nationwide staffing shortage and Crozer-specific turnover led to the reduction in service.

“So when push comes to shove, management has to make decisions on which entities will get filled,” Denney said. “Those entities happen to be the contractual ones — the ones that we are required to because they are paying services for communities to be served. So in Upper Darby’s sense, as with a lot of other municipalities and locals, EMS has been a free service for a very, very long time.”

Crozer covers a little over half of Delaware County’s advanced and basic life support services. Normal coverage is set to resume soon.

“If you were to take a look at our schedules for the rest of the week and throughout, we continue to service Upper Darby as best as we can,” Denney said. “There was just a little lapse because of our staffing.”

She recalled working in the township some nights as well as helping supplement other providers that are experiencing staffing issues elsewhere in the county.

“We just do not have the staff to keep every single unit up in service at this point,” Denney said.

Delaware County’s largest hospital system has narrowly avoided closure several times in recent weeks as its bankrupt parent company, Prospect Medical Holdings, works to sell Crozer to new ownership. Prospect did not respond to a request for comment.

Hospital ownership and the receiver FTI Consulting have moved to transitioning services to sustain operations during negotiations. Main Line Health is expected to absorb Crozer’s OB-GYN unit. Crozer plans to axe home care and hospice units at Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park. FTI did not respond to a request for comment.

The fate of ambulatory care for the broader system is unclear. Paramedic services have previously been a point of contention between Crozer and the surrounding communities that rely on the aging fleet for coverage.

“In the past couple weeks, we have approached municipalities about what we can do to service and what we can do to survive the sustainability of the Crozer EMS department,” Denney said, “and naturally it comes down to dollars and cents and not every single municipality has prepared for this because it’s been a service that’s been free for such a long time.”

On April 7, state Reps. Lisa Borowski (D-Delaware) and Greg Scott (D-Montgomery) joined forces with Jill Cooper (R-Allegheny) and Jim Rigby (R-Cambria) to formally launch the Pennsylvania House Fire and EMS Caucus to tackle issues facing providers across the state, such as recruitment and retention, and introduce related legislative actions.