The Selma Times-Journal

Haynes Ambulance will close its Selma operation effective March 31, according to a company official.

The reasons for the closing are “primarily financial,” said Danny Perry, chief operating officer for Haynes Ambulance. The company, which started in the late 1970s in Wetumpka, will keep open that operation, as well as services in Montgomery and at Maxwell Air Force Base, Perry said. The company is also closing its operation in Troy.

Perry pointed to a couple of reasons it is not economically feasible to keep operating in Selma. “Part of it is competition,” he said. Vaughan (Regional Medical Center) awarded a bid to Care Ambulance service, causing Haynes to lose some business.

Also, many of the patients transported by ambulance are on Medicare or Medicaid, and Medicaid hasn’t increased its reimbursement amount since the late 1970s, Perry said. “We lose money if we transport a Medicaid patient,” he said.

In Selma, 12 to 15 employees will be effected by the closing. “We have offered every one of them positions in Montgomery or Wetumpka,” Perry said. “We’re trying to offer incentives to come over here (Montgomery).”

Perry said there is a “significant paramedic shortage” in the state. “We’re short in all our offices,” he said.

While it’s difficult to find employees, the run volume is up in the Montgomery location. Run volume in Montgomery has increased 28 percent from January 2005 to January 2006, Perry said.

Haynes would welcome the opportunity to come back to Selma, if things change. “We’ve put it out there,” Perry said.