Cranberry Breaks Ground for New EMS Company Home

Construction is underway on a new home for Cranberry Township Emergency Medical Services.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday to mark the official start of work on the $1.6 million project, which will house the agency's ambulance fleet.

The new two-story building, which includes six ambulance bays, will be located next to the Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company’s Park Station on Route 19. The building also will have sleeping quarters, recreation space and a small meeting room for workers.

The township is financing the 7,200 square-foot structure and will rent it to the independent Cranberry Township EMS for $3,200 a month over the five-year term of its lease.

Cranberry will pay for the new building with help from a $10 million low-interest loan officials took out last September for capital improvement projects.

“The idea behind this new base station is to meet the emergency medical needs of our residents, businesses and visitors for another generation,” said Cranberry Supervisors Chairman Bruce Mazzoni at Tuesday’s ceremony. “It’s use comes with a promise that the EMS will provide our community with first rate medical transport service.”

Mazzoni noted the high level of service was emphasized in a recent agreement signed Feb. 7 between the township and Cranberry EMS.

As part of the contract, all EMS vehicles must be in good working order and the ambulance company also must provide a turnout time on emergency calls of no more than 90 seconds, 90 percent of the time.

The ambulance company currently leases space on Thomson Park Drive from the UPMC Passavant Foundation. Jeff Schueler, Cranberry’s director of public safety, has said the EMS service is outgrowing the building, which he also described as falling into disrepair.

EMS Board Vice President Scott Smith added the building, which the ambulance company has leased for about 20 years, does not have enough bays for the company’s fleet of vehicles.

“The building is quite cramped,” he said. “If you’ve seen our storage room, it’s full and there’s no place else to move. We have very limited space to store extra equipment.”

Smith said the ambulance company’s new, central location on Route 19 also would improve EMS response times in emergency situations.

“In our current location, a delay is possible of one to two minutes,” he said. “This location will provide better service and better response to the township and to the people who are visiting the township.”

The building is expected to be available for occupancy later this year.  In the meantime, the ambulance service will continue to operate out of the Thomson Park Boulevard building.

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