Fort Cherry Ambulance Inc. in Cecil has been soliciting new subscribers, which concerns township officials trying to inform residents about three other ambulance companies approved to answer calls in the township. "Last year, we divided up the township into three ambulance providers," township Manager Rich Crown said. "Residents are having trouble knowing who they are supposed to subscribe to, and now they are getting literature from another provider." Fort Cherry has been in business for five years and was one of four ambulance providers who stepped in when Cecil's own volunteer ambulance service went out of business in 2000. The others are Peters Township Ambulance Service, Canonsburg Ambulance Service and Southbridge EMS. Last year, supervisors approved those three companies to provide service in Cecil and didn't approve Fort Cherry, Supervisor Jesse White said. Southbridge had bases closer to more points in Cecil, which is nearly 29 square miles, and the supervisors generally decided that having fewer providers would minimize residents' confusion, he said. Cecil issued a statement last week that Fort Cherry was not an approved township ambulance service, but Fort Cherry owner Tom Bruce said he was never notified of this. "It appears that a faction of people in Cecil do not want us to operate in their township, but they have no choice," Bruce said. He said Fort Cherry has been soliciting subscribers at $10 a year, in the area of Cecil bordering McDonald. The company can offer quick response times in Gladden Heights, Jumbo and other nearby communities, he said. The Washington County 911 Emergency Center dispatches each municipality's chosen providers to emergency calls, unless the resident asks for another service, such as Fort Cherry, said Jeff Yates, Washington County's public safety director. He said Bruce is well within his rights to solicit for subscriptions, just as the township can choose its preferred providers. Crown said he's concerned that residents who subscribe to one provider, such as Fort Cherry, then use another company's ambulance during an emergency, will have problems getting their subscription service to pay the other company's ambulance bill. Subscription payments cover the difference in cost between a subscriber's insurance payment for an ambulance trip and the actual cost. But Bruce said his company has reciprocal agreements with the three Cecil-approved companies, as well as with other companies, so subscribers would have no problem in having trip costs covered. Reciprocal agreements are common in the industry, he said.

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