Gold Cross tells Neenah council it met key response benchmarks and will add interfacility ambulances

Nick Romanesco, executive director of Gold Cross Ambulance, told the Neenah Common Council on March 4 that Gold Cross responded to 2,306 911 calls in Neenah last year — a 0.6% increase from 2024 — and that nonemergency interfacility transports rose about 10.6%, prompting a plan to add three interfacility transport ambulances on April 1 to preserve 911‑response resources.

Romanesco said the service met its response‑time goal for emergency calls, reporting 92% of emergency responses inside the 8‑minute, 59‑second benchmark and a 90th‑percentile response time well below that standard. He highlighted clinical advances, noting Gold Cross is one of only two ambulance providers in the state offering whole blood deployment for traumatic and medical emergencies and that the service had multiple whole‑blood deployments last year.

The presentation noted Gold Cross’s investment in workforce development: an in‑house EMT and paramedic training program that pays trainees and requires a multi‑year service commitment; 13 individuals were in training and due to graduate in May. Romanesco said those steps help sustain local coverage amid national shortages of EMTs and paramedics.

Council members asked about less‑expensive transport alternatives; Romanesco described van‑and‑cot services and wheelchair vans that remove non‑emergency transports from ambulances, and he said the cot service handles roughly 300 calls a month. Mayor Lang and aldermen thanked Gold Cross for its work in the community.

Takeaway: The provider presented strong performance metrics, an operational plan to add transport ambulances, and continued emphasis on training and quality benchmarking.