At a recent press conference, Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger announced her EMS Coordinated Coverage Plan that will provide $4.9 million to fill gaps in coverage in Ulster County.

 

Ulster County released a statement, explaining that the Plan, “is a comprehensive approach to strengthening the EMS system and closing the gaps in service in the County, involving financial support, service coordination through the County Department of Emergency Services, and training programs and incentives to address EMS personnel shortages. The Plan includes $2.8 million for the cost of readiness of core Advanced Life Support [ALS] agencies throughout the County. ALS includes a paramedic and provides a higher level of care, in cases of heart attack or strokes, than Basic Life Support [BLS]. Nearly two-thirds of 911 calls dispatched in Ulster County are ALS calls.”  

 

An additional $1.6 million will be provided to bolster core services for municipalities with EMS contracts and incentivize high response rates to calls.

 

Metzger also announced the creation of a $500,000 grant program, allowing BLS agencies to purchase equipment for a higher level of patient care and the Department of Emergency Services will provide training in the use of the equipment. Also included in the County Executive’s 2025 Executive Budget are several training and certification initiatives to expand the EMS workforce.

 

Metzger explained the reasons for this Plan.   

 

“Our EMS system is facing major challenges that we have to address together. Our residents expect that when they call 911, the appropriate level of EMS practitioners will arrive on scene on time, provide immediate medical attention and transport them to the hospital, if necessary. These are the expectations that we all have and that we all should have.”

 

Metzger highlighted ‘distressing’ gaps in service in Ulster County, “with more than a third of our agencies responding to less than 70% of their calls.” She said there are also challenges with recruiting and retaining EMS personnel and struggles with rising costs while the county’s over 65 population is growing, which places increasing demands on an already strained system.

 

Metzger said investing in the EMS system is, “absolutely essential for public health and safety,” pointing out that funding in her Coordinated Coverage Plan will help fill gaps in the county’s EMS System, “in the near term while working toward longer term financial sustainability.”

 

Everett Erichsen, Director of Ulster County Emergency Services, said medical services must be patient centered, accountable and sustainable. He noted that many counties across New York State are facing increased demand for services, have significant shortages of paramedics and EMTs, challenging funding issues and are seeing increases in call volumes.  

 

Erichsen believes Metzger’s Plan, “enhances system-wide coordination, provides financial support for recruitment and retention and creates a more resilient emergency medical infrastructure,” adding that the Plan is more than a funding method but, “is a comprehensive strategy to transform emergency services in Ulster County and offers a forward thinking solution to the complex challenges facing emergency medical services in the modern health care age.”  

 

Matthew Goodnow, CEO of the New Paltz Rescue, said his company has always been able to reach and help people wherever they are in order to render medical services; noting that the area he serves has expanded.  

 

“We believe we can provide an effective response to the towns adjacent to New Paltz in a timely fashion and working with the County we are going to be able to do that, as we did with he Town of Lloyd,” he said.

 

Ulster County Legislator Gina Hansut said, “Having this [press conference] today and having it explained the way is was, I think is a very positive thing for Ulster County. We just don’t have the volunteer ambulance corps that we used to, so we had to come up with a solution and this is a step in the right direction. I am hopeful that eventually we will get some funding from the state as this moves forward.”

 

Town of Lloyd Supervisor Dave Plavchak said the town pays $640,000 annually to New Paltz Rescue for EMS service and monetary support from Metzger’s plan may help to offset rising costs in the future.

 

Plavchak said he is ‘overly’ satisfied with the service that New Paltz Rescue provides to Lloyd, whom they hired in 2024.

 

“They are meeting their metrics and we have very few calls that go over the 10 minute mark and normally when they do it’s because they have multiple calls at once,” he said. “They have been very good about moving the ambulances, especially ALS, between districts. They have a dedicated ambulance for the Town of Loyd and one for New Paltz but they back each other up because they have a few additional busses. They have been very helpful and they come and see us all the time; we’re very happy with them.”