York, PA — In an ongoing effort to create a uniform EMS system that provides high-quality service to all areas of York County, the York County Community Foundation’s (YCCF) WellSpan EMS Fund has awarded a grant of $33,000 to three local nonprofit EMS providers to create efficiencies and optimize service delivery. The three organizations in the project are York Regional Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Inc., Grantley Fire Company, and West York Ambulance.
The grant supported the hiring of a legal consultant to perform an analysis of the organizations, the market, infrastructure, and more, resulting in a recommendation for merging that was then taken to each organization’s managing board for review and vote. The grant also supports the execution of the recommendations, resulting in the creation of First Capital Community Transport Partners as the first step towards regionalizing and coordinating their provision of emergency and medical transportation services.
York Regional EMS, Grantley Fire Company, and West York Ambulance have been in discussions about coordination and consolidation for the past five years to create the foundation on which a sustainable, broad-based, uniform EMS system could be established. With the grant from YCCF’s WellSpan EMS Fund, the three nonprofit organizations were able to create one that is viable, high quality, and nimble to react to and resolve service area challenges now and into the future.
“The merger of York Regional EMS, Grantley Fire Company, and West York Ambulance is a great example of a collaborative project that will help strengthen the delivery of services in municipalities in York County,” said Jane M. Conover, president & CEO of YCCF. “Since the fund’s creation in 2014, this is the second municipal strategic alliance to be funded and facilitated, with the first being the Southern York County EMS. It’s exciting to see our EMS organizations come together and find ways to increase their sustainability so that they can continue to provide the critical services that we all need for a strong and healthy community.”
Established by WellSpan Health, with the goal of creating a more coordinated, regional EMS system that effectively meets the needs of York County communities, the YCCF WellSpan Emergency Medical Services Fund provides grants for purposes such as professional services, start-up resources, and/or the development of new and innovative collaborative projects in order to meet the emergency medical needs of the community. Since 2014, the fund has awarded more than $200,000 in grants. More information can be found at www.yccf.org.
