Southbridge Ambulance Not Cutting Services

Officials for Southbridge EMS are stressing to the public that the company is not having financial problems and is still offering ambulance services to Bridgeville, Cecil and South Fayette.

Dan Miller, a top official at the ambulance company, told Bridgeville Borough Council on Monday night that Southbridge has been the target of a “vicious rumor” recently that they are financially strapped.

“That is totally false,” Miller said. “We found out there is a pretty vicious rumor that we’re going out of business. It’s not true.”

He said the company is solid and will continue to offer ambulance services at all hours to the three communities.

An anonymous email was sent to Chartiers Valley Patch earlier this month that stated the company was “going broke” and would no longer be able to respond to overnight calls. But that information could not be independently verified, so it was never published.

Southbridge EMS Director Dennis Valentine said he thinks the rumor might have started after the company discontinued its wheelchair transportation service on Feb. 1. But he attributed that decision to a low volume of those specialized calls and increased state oversight.

“I’m not sure if that contributed to it,” Valentine told Chartiers Valley Patch. “Other than that, I keep coming to work every day. We’ve notified the municipal entities that we’re doing just fine. We’ve addressed it with the local communities and gave it to them straight. We’re not going anywhere.”

The ambulance service has been operating in the area since 1971.

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