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| Spring 2005 | |
| “RESCUE DIVISION 2” Around-the-clock ambulance service in the West River Valley will continue to be operated out of Grace Cottage Hospital, thanks to an agreement signed in early January by Grace Cottage and Rescue, Inc., southeastern Vermont’s largest not-for-profit ambulance service. On February 1, Grace Cottage gave its three ambulances to Rescue, Inc. and, for at least three years, has agreed to donate an EMS office and bunkroom at the hospital for use by Rescue personnel. In addition, Grace Cottage will pay a $50,000 subsidy to Rescue over the next year, to help with the transition. The Bock EMS Training Center will continue to be part of Grace Cottage. “It became clear that working out an agreement with Rescue Inc. would best serve the people of the West River Valley because paramedic-level service will now be provided locally”, said Neil Pelsue, president of the Otis Health Care Center Board of Trustees. “As the last hospital in Vermont to operate its own ambulance service, it was evident that we couldn’t continue. During the past six months, we’ve been working hard to explore the various options for continuation of service, including the recruitment of additional volunteers. We met with the selectboards of the towns we serve, and with area first-response squads before making this decision.”
The area towns formerly served by Grace Cottage Ambulance Service (Brookline, Newfane, Jamaica, Townshend and Wardsboro), will now be covered by Rescue, Inc., if the towns so choose. The procedure for calling an ambulance in the West River Valley remains the same — in an emergency, call 911. $50,880 had been raised last year towards the purchase of a new ambulance for Grace Cottage before negotiations with Rescue began; contributors who gave specificially for this purpose have been contacted, and have released the restriction on their gifts. (For more on the ambulance, see Neil Pelsue’s letter in this newsletter) |
