By now you have heard or read that Parkview EMS is the Borough’s new EMS service provider. Parkview started servicing Oakmont at midnight on March 15. Lower Valley Ambulance Service (LVAS) provided the Borough with fifty years of service, and we thank them and extend our appreciation to LVAS for those years of service to Oakmont.

I wanted to review how this decision impacts the residents of Oakmont. First, individual or household EMS subscriptions are no longer necessary. As an Oakmont resident, you are automatically a subscriber to Parkview’s service. This means there is no annual subscription cost to you or your family to receive the automatic seventy-five percent (75%) discount on any out-of-pocket expenses (such as co-payments and deductibles) that your insurance company may require you to pay for emergency ambulance service.

For those concerned about response time to Oakmont, Parkview has been the immediate backup (mutual aid) agency to LVAS for some time and in the second half of 2022, responded to about 23% of the calls into Oakmont in support of LVAS. There was no noticeable difference in responses to Oakmont for emergencies. Parkview’s station and LVAS’s station are both proximate to Oakmont.

For our part, annually the Borough will provide Parkview EMS with $50,000 to defray the cost of adding Oakmont to their service area. Additionally, the Borough will set aside funds to support the purchase of new ambulances for the Parkview fleet over the next 6 to 13 years when older units are removed from service. In this arrangement, Oakmont will own any vehicle we directly assist Parkview with purchasing, but Parkview is responsible for maintenance.

I invite you to visit the Borough’s YouTube page and view the Special Meeting convened by Council on March 7 when Council reviewed the information provided by all agencies we met with and their ulitmate decision to appoint Parkview EMS as service provider. Never hesitate to call me at the Borough office if you have any questions.