After 28 Years, Gorman Retires as President of South Windsor Ambulance Corps

Larry Gorman has retired as the president and chief of service of the South Windsor Ambulance Corps effective this morning, according to a prepared statement.

Gorman served as president of SWAC for 28 years, including the last 18 as its president and chief of service.

“[I]t is in the best interest of SWAC that I step aside and let others take up the job of advancing the service to the paramedic level and preparing for the upcoming changes in the healthcare industry,” Gorman said in the prepared statement.

In an interview Wednesday, consultant Bob Holdsworth, who was retained by SWAC, said that Gorman agreed to make himself available on an as-needed basis to ensure a smooth transition over the next several months.

Gorman’s retirement comes on the heels of SWAC announcing on March 28 that the ambulance provider would be upgrading from basic life support (EMT service) to advanced life support service.

Still planning to move forward

Despite the announcement of the upgrade, the South Windsor Town Council on Monday unanimously passed a resolution that supports a bill in the state legislature that would to enable municipalities to choose their ambulance providers.

State law currently provides only limited circumstances under which a municipality may remove or change its ambulance service.

For years, Gorman said that it would cost between $500,000 and $700,000 for SWAC to upgrade to advanced life support service.

However, Town Manager Matthew Galligan said several months ago that the town could receive advanced life support from another ambulance service for no additional cost.

Since then, the town has taken several steps to change its ambulance provider, including preparing to send out requests for proposal, as well as have its state legislators lobby to amend the law to enable towns to have more flexibility to change ambulance providers.

'Moving in the right direction'

Several South Windsor town officials said that Gorman’s retirement was a positive step, but that the town would continue with the RFP process.

“Larry has been dedicated employee for 28 years and I wish him well,” Galligan said. “But it doesn’t change my opinion in terms of the RFP and the things we need to do.”

Town Councilor Keith Yagaloff, who for years has called for SWAC to upgrade its service to advanced life support, also supported Gorman’s decision to retire.

“I’m happy that this continues to move in the right direction,” Yagaloff said. “It was necessary given the underlying issues that SWAC was dealing with.”

One of those underlying issues came further into light at the council meeting Monday evening, when Galligan said that SWAC declined to share with him the consultant’s report that led to the decision to upgrade to paramedic service.

Galligan said that he was told by SWAC that the report was in draft form, and, therefore, was not ready to be publicly disclosed.

Galligan said that he was bothered by that, as SWAC announced moving to paramedic service based on a draft report that was not ready for public disclosure.

“I was disappointed,” said Galligan, noting that SWAC instead gave him two dates that it would allow him to view and go over the document, but not give to him.

What’s more, Galligan said that, pursuant to state law, he had to sign off on SWAC’s decision to upgrade to paramedic service

Galligan questioned how he could sign off on paramedic service if he had not been given the underlying consultant’s report.

Town councilors advised Galligan not to meet with SWAC about the report, because of possible conflicts of interest in the RFP process.

Unpaid rent and fuel

Also at issue is SWAC’s perceived relationship with the town. Specifically, members of the council called on SWAC to pay for the town fuel it was consuming as well as sign a lease for the space it occupies at Station 3 of the South Windsor Volunteer Fire Department.

For years, SWAC and the town have operated on system in which the ambulance service would pay for the coordinated medical emergency dispatch system - some $16,000 per year - and SWAC was permitted to occupy town space as well as use town fuel.

Galligan said that the costs, at least initially, tended to even out, with SWAC having paid some $154,000 since 2002 for CMED.

But that was before SWAC moved into its new 5,800-square-foot space at Station 3 about two years ago. Galligan said Wednesday that he was looking to charge about $40,000 annually for the rent ($7 per square foot) for the Station 3 space.

In addition, Galligan said that the emergency dispatch costs were being folded into the town budget, meaning that SWAC would no longer have anything to offset the cost of its fuel and rent.

Not everyone on the council on Monday was quick to denounce SWAC, however. Councilor Ed Havens that SWAC has “done a terrible job of communicating.” But Havens said that SWAC has been a valuable service in town for 30 years.

“If they don’t get a shot at being [the ambulance] provider, I’ll be disappointed,” Havens said. “What do we do if we get rid of them? Throw them out? ... I’m very unhappy with how we are treating them.”

But Yagaloff said on Monday that no one was turning his or her back on SWAC. Instead, the town was looking to have control over who its ambulance provider is, and what level of service it receives.

Galligan said in an interview Wednesday that SWAC would receive an RFP and would have an opportunity to show what it has to offer.

The issue of the town’s ambulance service was brought into sharp focus upon the death of Hannah Patrie, a 15-year-old girl who collapsed at South Windsor High School during a conditioning exercise at a dance camp last summer. Patrie lost consciousness and died.

One of the questions surrounding Patrie’s death was the response time of the town’s first responders.