Media Borough hosts public meeting to discuss joining newly formed EMS Authority

There will be a public meeting on Thursday, April 30 in Media Borough, and all are invited to attend. Its purpose will be to discuss the borough joining a “multi-municipality” emergency medical services (EMS) authority.

“Currently, the Borough  provides advanced life support (ALS) and basic life support (BLS) emergency medical services through a partnership with Media Fire, Hook & Ladder Company No. 1 and the Riddle Hospital,” said the borough’s website. “The ambulance corps serves Media, Upper Providence Township, and portions of Nether Providence Township and responds to approximately 2,200 ambulance requests annually.”

However, when Prospect Medical Holdings filed for bankruptcy, it closed the Crozer Health system, meaning many area residents lost access to an acute care hospital. But borough officials say this also meant that Media was out “the majority of our Emergency Medical Services Infrastructure.”

“After Crozer shut its doors, the county funded four Advanced Life Support ambulances as a stopgap measure,” the borough’s leadership explained on its site. “This gave communities the time they needed to organize. Some of our neighbors have signed contracts with area EMS companies to provide services. We are exploring regionalization.”

Instead of finding a company already working with other municipalities, the Media Borough would take a leadership role in pioneering a new way forward. The borough would consider the development of a “unique administrative/operational structure, Delco’s first multi-municipal Emergency Services Authority.”

Those in favor of the concept said that an authority would provide transparency and structure for the borough’s EMS needs. Leadership would be created through “local board appointments.”

Media Borough is not in it alone. Currently, an intermunicipal group with representatives from six municipalities in total includes Media, Nether Providence, Rose Valley, Rutledge, Swarthmore, and Upper Providence. Additionally, the Swarthmore Fire and Protective Association and the Media Fire Company have been a part of discussions. The borough’s site also stated that, while this is a new idea for Delaware County, it is not in Pennsylvania, meaning the new authority could utilize the framework which “has been successfully implemented by other regional EMS organizations across our Commonwealth.”

According to the borough’s website, the key drivers of the concept include considerations for:

• Stable and predictable funding focused on sustainable and responsible spending
• Fairer cost distributions via pre-set fees instead of taxing residents
• Create local control and accountability

The Media website stated that the funds would be raised with “legally enforceable collections” but, using a “broader base of local property owners,” the burden would be more fairly spread. This would include charging “large land-owning nonprofit institutions that do not contribute through traditional property taxes,” said the site.

“This approach spreads costs more evenly among users and keeps costs lower for residents and local businesses than a municipally operated, tax-funded service,” said the Media website.

The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at the Strath Haven Middle School, 200 S. Providence Road in Wallingford. After a public informational session, there will be a hearing on the authority’s Articles of Incorporation, after which “each municipality will decide on whether to formally join the authority,” according to the site.

For more information on the meeting, visit the borough’s page here.