By Stephen Hagan
Gloucester Daily Times
ROCKPORT, Mass. 鈥� As manning shifts at the Rockport Ambulance Department with volunteers has become unsustainable, the town has entered negotiations with a 鈥渢hird-party鈥� ambulance company to providing full-time coverage.
Rockport residents need not worry 鈥� emergency medical services are being provided, Select Board Chair Ross Brackett said.
鈥淭here are no public safety concerns in Rockport,鈥� he said. 鈥淏oth Beauport and Rockport are responding to calls. I want to make that clear.鈥�
Currently, ambulance services are provided by both the Rockport Ambulance Department and the Gloucester-based Beauport Ambulance Service.
Town Administrator Mitchell Vieira was directed to conduct contact talks with Beauport Ambulance by vote last month of four of the five members of the Select Board.
The contract would have Beauport 鈥渁ssume primary ambulance services as of July 1 , 2025,鈥� Vieira said. 鈥淭he town is finalizing a contract that the Select Board will vote on in the near future.鈥�
Fifth member Laura Evans voted to abstain.
鈥淧rivatizing will cost the town and those served by the ambulance more money and, more importantly, the local control of the service and the community-building opportunity for townspeople to serve one another,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut the clock has run out and we need to act. The Select Board voted to privatize and I respect that vote.鈥�
鈥淭he decision was to authorize the town administrator to begin negotiations with a private ambulance service,鈥� Brackett said. 鈥淭he board will have another chance to decide whether or not to accept the contract.鈥�
The Rockport Ambulance Department was founded in the early 1970s as a 24-hour emergency medical service. The department maintains its own headquarters at 37-R Broadway. The volunteers who staff the service are all certified by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as emergency medical technicians in basic life support.
Rockport Ambulance is a self-supporting entity, whose budget is generated by the user fee insurance that a person pays when a transport is made. In addition, the department is supported by donations made by the public, according to the town website.
After a contract is developed and then signed by the town and the chosen private ambulance company, the Rockport Ambulance Department will likely be dissolved, Brackett said.
Former Rockport firefighter Don Poole served for years as both a firefighter and member of the Rockport Ambulance Department. He has long advocated for the two departments to merge.
鈥淚 would have loved to see the Ambulance Department become part of the Fire Department,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 proposed that for years.鈥�
Select Board Vice Chair Denise Donnelly said the board鈥檚 vote made sense.
鈥淭he whole idea was that we don鈥檛 have enough volunteers to staff the Ambulance Department,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he volunteers we do have are working incredibly hard. It鈥檚 not fair for them to cover all the shifts. It鈥檚 supposed to be a part-time thing. For a number of them, it was becoming overwhelming.鈥�
Donnelly predicted it will 鈥渢ake some time鈥� before a contract is signed. In the meantime, she said the town鈥檚 residents can expect the appropriate emergency medical ambulance services to continue.
鈥淲e do have arrangements in place,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he town is protected. We have coverage until a new contract is signed and in effect.鈥�
The volunteer department has faced staffing challenges since COVID-19, said Patti Tucker, Rockport Ambulance鈥檚 interim director.
鈥淎fter COVID, there was a shortage of EMTs nationwide,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 lot of us were burned out about a year ago. We鈥檙e down to a skeleton crew at this point.鈥�
There are officially 11 EMTs on the department, but recently only about six have been making emergency calls, Tucker said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very taxing to the six of us,鈥� she said.
Tucker said she would love to see Rockport Ambulance thrive but said staffing challenges have essentially made that impossible.
鈥淚t鈥檚 Rockport people helping Rockport people,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut unfortunately, the volunteer model doesn鈥檛 seem to work anymore.鈥�
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