Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Ems Regionalization topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Southern Berkshire EMS leaders urge Sheffield to join regional feasibility study
Summary
Jim Santos of Southern Berkshire Ambulance described staffing and funding shortfalls and asked Sheffield to join an 18–24 month regional EMS feasibility study led by the Collins Center; the selectmen voted to participate and will send a signed letter of participation.
Jim Santos, president of the board of directors of Southern Berkshire Ambulance, told the Sheffield Board of Selectmen that regionalizing emergency medical services is intended to address “a crisis” in both funding and staffing and invited the town to join an 18–24 month feasibility study.
Santos said the group, convened this spring by state Representative Smitty Pignatelli, has formed finance and hub-and-spoke subcommittees and plans to hire the Collins Center for Public Management (associated with UMass) to conduct the study once a state grant is secured. “Two main reasons for that are funding and staffing,” Santos said, adding that the study will inventory staff, vehicles and other resources across participating towns and ambulance services.
A select board member moved that Sheffield participate in the task force; the board approved the motion and asked the town’s designated staff member to return a signed letter confirming Sheffield’s participation. The board was told the task force will include one representative from each town and one from each ambulance service that chooses to participate, and that the Collins Center will gather and analyze substantial operational and financial data.
Santos said the group has discussed possible state grant options, naming an efficiency and regionalization grant as the likeliest funding source for a study of this size, and that municipalities should expect to remain partly financially responsible even with grant support. He also described recent training work: Southern Berkshire sponsored EMT classes through funding from Berkshire Community College (BCC), and a new EMT class of 14 students was starting within days, paid by a BCC grant.
Resident volunteers and staff will supply local data to the task force, and the board indicated it will select a town representative and return the confirmation letter sent by Heather Barberry. The selectmen emphasized that joining the task force is not an immediate financial commitment but a step toward evaluating options.
The selectmen’s action was procedural: Sheffield agreed to participate and will name a representative to the task force. The study’s findings and any recommended structural or funding changes will return to the towns for further deliberation and formal decisions.
