BORDENTOWN: Shared EMS services now official

By Geoffrey Wertime, Staff Writer
BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP — A shared services agreement between Bordentown City and Bordentown Township for emergency medical service has been finalized after over a year operating without official approval.
    At its March 9 meeting, the Township Committee passed a resolution authorizing the agreement by a 4-0 vote, with Mayor William Morelli absent.
    Hope Hose Humane Company No. 1, on West Burlington Street, in Bordentown City, has been handling EMS services since July 2007, and according to Township Administrator Leonard Klepner, the township’s approval of the agreement will have no impact on service to the community.
    “Hope Hose is an integral part of this arrangement,” he said, “because they are the on-the-ground service provider, and their history of service in the community is well established. If anything, it should be enhanced and supported in an ongoing way.”
    Bordentown City Commissioner James Lynch, the city’s director of public safety, agreed.
    “They’re the heart of the whole agreement,” he said of Hope Hose. “If we didn’t have them, then, really, we wouldn’t have anything.”
    The city signed off on the agreement last month. Commissioner Lynch said the participation of Vince Porpey, chief of Hope Hose, and Township Police Chief Frank Nucera played vital roles in the agreement process.
    The township and city share the cost of the service in an approximate 60-40 split, which is re-examined on a regular basis.
    “The service is such that no one who’s a resident of either the township or the city would have any out-of-pocket costs,” Mr. Klepner said.
    Instead, a third-party billing company seeks payment from patients’ insurance companies and does not charge those without health insurance. Nonresidents, however, are billed for the EMS service.
    The ultimate goal, Mr. Klepner said, is for the service to sustain itself with any surpluses going to a fund for ambulance purchase and repair.
    “In a way, this is the community serving itself. It’s just with the sharing of the underpinnings,” he said. “The object is to assure township and city residents have the service that they need in this moment of extreme uncertainty to their families.”
    Commissioner Lynch said the system is working out well for everyone involved.
    “This has just hit on all cinders,” he said. “It’s the greatest thing that’s ever been since I’ve been in office.”