Bradford Township Questions Future Ambulance Service Agreement

Bradford Township supervisors have tabled a new three-year agreement with the city for ambulance service, after seeing the annual cost nearly double to about 75-thousand-500 dollars. Chairperson Laree Sue Behan says the board isn’t looking to reject the deal, but wants more discussion on how the city reached its numbers. Fire Chief Brett Butler says rising costs stem from longer travel times to emergency rooms since Bradford Regional Medical Center closed, along with higher fuel and overtime expenses. Butler says municipal payments still cover only a fraction of the city’s overall ambulance costs. Supervisors say maintaining their own service would be far costlier.