For nearly a year the Town of Cornwall and the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson has been subsidizing the Cornwall Volunteer Ambulance Corps (COVAC) for Basic Life Support (BLS) services while continuing to pay the Town of New Windsor Volunteer Ambulance Corps (NWVAC) a monthly fee for Advanced Life Support (ALS). The financial arrangement was temporary as both boards decided COVAC’s future. On May 26, town and village officials will meet, at 7 p.m. in Village Hall, to discuss a three-year partnership with NWVAC for BLS and ALS services.
The two boards stepped in last year when officials received word COVAC had been dropping a number of calls resulting in NWVAC stepping up to cover Basic Life Support calls in addition to the Advanced Life Support calls it was already contracted to provide. The ambulance corps was struggling to find volunteers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. COVAC was also experiencing financial hardship as patients were refusing transport to the hospital.
A number of years ago, COVAC made the request to bill patients directly and a decision was subsequently reached to dissolve the “ambulance district” overseen by the town. By billing insurance providers directly, this was to be a more efficient process that allowed for the corps to remain solvent without monies allocated from Cornwall.
The town and village boards agreed to provide a subsidy to COVAC. Meanwhile, the ambulance corps was given the opportunity to reorganize its financial and organizational structure as the two governing bodies discussed the future of pre-hospital care in Cornwall..
In a joint statement released Thursday afternoon, Mayor James Gagliano and Supervisor Josh Wojehowski said, “despite the provided financial support, there continue to exist a number of issues that have not been resolved, as relates to the professional administration of ambulatory services to our residents. Public safety is of paramount concern.”
The two boards will convene next week to discuss a three-year deal with NWVAC for both BLS and ALS service. Members of the public will be afforded the opportunity to speak. The special meeting will also be streamed live and can be viewed by visiting https://youtu.be/2FufId3TbWI.
William Horton, NWVAC’s board chairman, said a number of models have been discussed and he’s confident the ambulance corps will be able to deliver the service the Cornwall community has come to know over the past 67 years. The ambulance bay on Clinton Street will house a team of New Windsor EMTs, as well as an ambulance 24/7.
