South Windsor Councilor Calls on Ambulance Corps to Hire Full-Time Chief of Operations

A town official on Monday called on the South Windsor Ambulance Corps to hire a full-time chief of service.

Town Councilor Keith Yagaloff, a vocal critic of SWAC in recent years, made the statement after Patricia Dunham Russo, an unofficial representative of the SWAC board of directors, provided an update to the Town Council on the status of ambulance provider.

During her statement, Russo said that the board of directors earlier this month appointed Carol Salcius as acting chief of service to temporarily replace Larry Gorman, who announced his retirement on April 3.

“Carol has the full backing and support of the board in this role and the board has vowed to work closely with her,” Russo said. “Carol has also been authorized to search for potential paramedic staffing providers that are available to SWAC in its journey to upgrade to paramedic level service.”

But Yagaloff pointed out that Salcius already has a full-time job in the South Windsor public school system and that hiring a full-time chief of service should be a priority for the SWAC board of directors.

“I am concerned when Larry Gorman stepped down, he was working as a full-time director of the [SWAC],” Town Councilor Keith Yagaloff said. “The person replacing him ... works full time for the board of education.”

Yagaloff said that, according to tax returns, Salcius works just 10 hours a week for SWAC.

“Personally, I have concerns about the operations of the ambulance corps,” Yagaloff said. “As soon as there is a full-time person operating the ambulance corps, the better off everybody will be.”

Yagaloff outlined some of the problems he believes SWAC has had in the past, including maintenance of vehicles, ambulance coverage during daytime hours and a refusal to upgrade to paramedic service after repeated calls from the council to do so throughout the years.

Yagaloff pointed out that SWAC’s consultant advised the ambulance provider to upgrade to paramedic service from basic life support service, and that it could do so at no cost, other than about $80,000 in up-front capital expenditures.
The council for a number of years had been told by Gorman that such an upgrade would cost between $500,000 to $700,000.

“The sooner they get things in gear, the better off we’ll be,” Yagaloff said.

Still, even with the recent announcement from SWAC that it was upgrading to ALS, the town is moving forward in soliciting requests for proposals from ambulance providers to provide advanced life support service.

Town Manager Matthew Galligan said that the RFP should be sent out within the next couple of days.

In light of that information, Town Councilor Jan Snyder advised her fellow councilors that no further comments should be made on the issue to prevent tainting the RFP process.

Snyder told Yagaloff that “the council completely agrees with you,” but that any additional comments could jeopardize the RFPs process.

In related news, Galligan said that he was testifying this Thursday before Moore Mandate Commission on a bill that would enable towns to choose their own ambulance providers.

Galligan said that the state Public Health Committee “totally gutted” the bill, passing it along to the Moore Mandate Commission. Galligan said that he hopes to have language reinserted into the legislation to give it more teeth.