Main Line Health EMS service gets $275k grant from Wawa Foundation
Main Line Health EMS has seen demand grow after the closure of Crozer-Chester Medical Center last year.
Main Line Health has received a grant of $275,000 from the Wawa Foundation to bolster emergency response services that were strained by last year’s closing of the county’s largest ambulance service and highest-level trauma center, Crozer Health.
The grant will be used to purchase a new ambulance, bringing the four-hospital system’s fleet to nine. This will help EMS workers be more responsive to rising demand. Ambulance calls to Main Line Health EMS, which is based at Riddle Hospital in Media, have doubled since Crozer closed.
“We have increased emergency response support in the region through Main Line Health EMS, working closely with local agencies to provide coverage and ensure no community is left without critical, time sensitive care,” said Shelly Buck, president of ambulatory and professional services for Main Line Health. “With the Wawa Foundation’s timely support, we will be better equipped when patients need us most.”
Crozer Chester Medical Center and its sister hospital, Taylor Hospital, shuttered after their for-profit owner, Prospect Medical Holdings, filed for bankruptcy. The hospitals had been a critical safety net for a low-income part of Delaware County. Crozer Health was also the leading EMS provider for the county.
Since the hospitals’ closure, county leaders and hospital administrators have scrambled to rebuild emergency response services.
Several townships in the area are considering creating an emergency services authority, which would support ambulance services through fees on property owners.
Over the past year, Main Line has hired more EMS providers, expanded non-emergency transports, and launched an EMT apprentice program.
