Shawn Marshall, manager of EMS Services at WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center, appeared before the Wood County Commission on Monday to give an update on how ambulance service has been going since the closure of St. Joseph’s Ambulance Service at the end of March. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

PARKERSBURG — The transition to Camden Clark Ambulance Service taking over the majority of emergency ambulance service in the area has been operating well, officials said Monday.

Shawn Marshall, manager of EMS Services at WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center, appeared before the Wood County Commission on Monday to give an update on how ambulance service has been going since the closure of St. Joseph’s Ambulance Service at the end of March. St. Joseph’s Ambulance Service ceased operations after Monday, March 31. The closure was announced on March 17.

Since March 31, they have done almost 4,300 911 calls not including other transports they do, Marshall said.

“Being able to cover the city, I think we have done a pretty good job,” he said. “There are still some days that are higher volume and the tone goes off when a truck is not immediately available but we try to free up resources as quickly as we can.

“To my knowledge we have not had any extensive wait times on someone being able to respond to a call.”

Camden Clark initially hired around 43 people, many of them former St. Joseph’s Ambulance Service employees.

They also bought six ambulances from St. Joseph’s Ambulance Service with over $900,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds provided by the Wood County Commission, as well as another two ambulances from the Belpre Volunteer Fire Department and a response vehicle and wheelchair van from St. Joseph’s through funding provided by the Camden Clark Foundation and Auxiliary.

A number of the ambulances were initially kept at the Wood County Resiliency Center while they went through reviews to make sure they were up to code for use by Camden Clark before they were inspected by the state.

The remaining work to get the remaining ambulances properly marked for Camden Clark is expected to be done by early July. Although he did not discuss details, Marshall said they have plans for a black ambulance they received from Belpre as it has become something of a “social media hit.”

“It is the mysterious black ambulance,” Marshall said with a laugh. “We have some special plans for that which we think the public will like when they see it.”

Commissioner Jimmy Colombo commended the ambulance service for changing quickly to meet the needs of the community.

“You guys have done a hell of a job,” he said. “I see a lot of red and blue lights going everywhere.”

Marshall feels they are providing better coverage with better response times.

He also highlighted being able to spread their resources throughout the area with ambulances stationed at the Wood County 911 Center to better cover instances on Interstate 77 and U.S. 50. They opened a new ambulance station, with two or three ambulances, at the Southgate location. They have one located at the city building in Vienna. They have an ambulance located in Williamstown that Marshall said has been able to be utilized more in that city.

“We are looking at other projects down the road to spread out in the county,” Marshall said.

They are able to shift around resources as needed like where if the Williamstown ambulance responds to a situation, the Vienna ambulance can cover Williamstown and a truck from the hospital is sent to Vienna.

“The whole purpose of that is to cut down on response times,” he said.

When there were two ambulance services, the area was divided into zones for Camden Clark and St. Joseph’s where each group handled calls when it was their primary time to cover. Since the change over, they have seen improvements in coverage.

“I don’t see us slowing down any time soon,” Marshall said. “It takes an army and a team to do what we are doing. I think we are moving in the right direction.”

They have since hired seven more employees.

Commission President Blair Couch said he was glad Camden was able to hire a lot of the people from St. Joseph’s Ambulance Service, highly trained personnel which has made the transition easier.

Marshall said they continue to do training with those people to bring them up to the levels to cover the things they need to. They have multiple people in a paramedic training class and they are starting a Critical Care class and more.

“They have been appreciative of that,” Marshall said. “We have given them more opportunities for education.

“Everyday we are working to expand our services.”

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com.