PRESS RELEASE - LCAA to Cease Operations, Truro Readies Contingency Plan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 8, 2023
Posted on: August 8, 2023 - 9:17am
The Town of Truro received notification on Friday, August 4, 2023, that Lower Cape Ambulance Association (LCAA) will cease all operations effective September 1, 2023. The decision comes as a result of a sudden shift in Provincetown’s hiring plan, which significantly impacted LCAA’s ability to staff adequately.
Although LCAA’s announcement to dissolve arrived sooner than expected, Truro town staff – including Chief Timothy Collins, Town Manager Darrin Tangeman, Assistant Town Manager Kelly Clark, and Finance Director Alex Lessin – anticipated this notice and took proactive measures. A contingency plan was devised and presented to the Select Board and the community, and ultimately approved by Truro voters at the 2023 April Annual Town Meeting and Election. The affirmative votes of a series of articles provided the flexibility and funding to shift the ambulance transport service provision model to meet the changing circumstances related to staffing, Union negotiations, and the interrelated service models of Provincetown, Truro and LCAA. With the recent notification from LCAA, the administration’s plan and the corresponding articles allow Truro to shift from LCAA’s provision of transport services to staffing Traveling Paramedics to provide a seamless path forward in administering Advanced Life Support (ALS) services in Truro.
“We re-entered negotiations with sincerest intentions and the belief that we would be able to maintain a service that would be appropriate as each town worked to increase staffing levels,” said LCAA Chief Operating Officer Steven Roderick via email. “Recent developments have made it impossible for LCAA to maintain the level of service that it has delivered for the past 86 years.”
“In early June, we learned that six of the eight new hires for Provincetown would be LCAA employees,” Roderick said. “This sudden shift in the hiring plan for Provincetown significantly impacted LCAA’s ability to fully staff all shifts going forward. Initially, we began a process to rebuild our workforce and to develop plans to further support both management and front-line employees. We explored more grant and funding opportunities. However, this would take a great deal of effort, resources, and most importantly time, all of which we do not have available to us.”
Despite Truro’s planning, the transition won’t be void of all issues. Provincetown’s staffing levels and call volume have already required increased mutual aid from Truro and other Outer Cape towns, and Truro anticipates that Provincetown will continue to need increased mutual aid as LCAA officially winds down.
Truro officials strongly encourage Provincetown to engage supplemental service provisions, such as Traveling Paramedics or another ambulance service, to alleviate the burden on the Outer Cape’s ALS system while Provincetown strives to meet full staffing.
Truro continues coordinating with our Traveling Paramedic partners, Best Practice Medicine of Montana, and has requested additional paramedics to meet the call demand and to support Fire Academy training for our newly hired paramedics during this transition period. Truro has been a municipal leader and innovator in paramedic staffing and is the only town in the Commonwealth utilizing the traveling paramedic model. Additionally, due to aggressive recruitment efforts and the completion of a collective bargaining agreement that allows Truro to offer competitive wages, the town is ahead of schedule in paramedic recruitment efforts. Employment offers issued today and later in the week will put the town in an even better position to assume all ALS service provisions in the community. Qualified candidates are encouraged to apply for the town’s open firefighter-paramedic positions at www.truro-ma.gov/jobs.
With the notification from LCAA, staff also activated plans to address ambulance procurement, transport billing, and onboarding of the administrative staff position necessary to provide complete ALS service in Truro, all of which were planned for in the April 2023 Town Meeting articles.
Amidst all the planning and implementation, however, the town’s key message is one of gratitude. “LCAA has been a valued partner throughout this journey, demonstrating a steadfast commitment to the well-being of the Truro community over the years,” said Town Manager Darrin Tangeman. “We can’t be more thankful for the professionalism of the Lower Cape Ambulance Board of Directors and staff during this difficult transition, and we want to thank them publicly for supporting our community for the last 86 years. We also thank the Select Board and the Truro voters for supporting our professional staff’s recommendations and allowing us to ensure that high-quality ALS transport continues in our community.”
The Truro Fire Department (not pictured – Kate Dorsey, Derrick Duquette, and Holly Kuhn)
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