Gilbertsville and Bally Community Ambulance Services Need Your Support Too!

by Lesley Misko

The Gilbertsville Area Community Ambulance Service recently posted on Facebook:

“Hello friends! Those of you in the first-due service region of Gilbertsville Area Community Ambulance (a large part of Douglass Township, a portion of Upper Pottsgrove, and a portion of New Hanover Township), you likely have begun to see this Membership Drive letter in your mailbox (businesses included!!).

“These memberships help assist in the funding of the operations of Gilbertsville Area Community Ambulance separately from any tax monies that municipalities may choose to provide (currently, as of 1/2024, only provided by Douglass Township Montgomery County), and separately from any insurance billing refunds the Ambulance may receive back. They are a very important part of the total financial package necessary to keep 24/7 EMS operations in your community, AND, they are beneficial to YOU!

“How, you ask? Well, if you have a membership, you will not be billed by GACAS for any additional costs that your insurance provider does not pay should you need EMS services. Some healthcare providers only pay a small fraction of an ambulance service bill, which could leave you responsible for hundreds or even thousands of dollars out of pocket. This small donation will assure that this doesn't happen to you!

“Thank you ALL for your continued support, and we look forward to continuing to service this community for many more years to come!” 

These comments grabbed my attention because they repeat the points included in an Expression article that I recently wrote.about the Boyertown Community Ambulance

When we spoke, Melanie Roth, Boyertown Community Ambulance Board President, commented, “We are so fortunate to have three community ambulance services in our area. It is an example of neighbors supporting neighbors.”

Both Roth and Jim Boyer, Emergency Medical Services Chief, explained how Gilbertsville, Boyertown, and Bally work together. “If a 911 call comes into Boyertown and our crew is already out on another call, the ambulance request gets routed to the next closest place, which is likely to be one of these other community ambulance services. If the second  to receive the call is also out, it will go to a third location, etc. Sometimes, depending on how busy it is, a call that starts out being for Boyertown, could end up with Pottstown responding.”

“By joining your local community ambulance, you help maintain this cooperating network of care. It’s neighbors supporting neighbors,” they point out.

So, if you are a resident of the Bally or Gilbertsville areas and you bypassed the article about Boyertown Community Ambulance, we hope you will reconsider and read about how joining a community ambulance can help you. And, whether you are Boyertown, Bally, or Gilbertsville, we encourage you to join your local community ambulance service today.

The article about the Boyertown Community Ambulance was one of our most read articles of the past year, and you can read it here.

More News from Boyertown

• Boyertown Lions Club Initiates Hometown Heroes Banner Campaign In honoring veterans for their service, the Lions Club of Boyertown is seeking sponsors for banners featuring military persons with ties to Boyertown and surrounding areas.
• May 11, 1728: Walter and John Winter Hanged for Murdering Indians In a misguided effort to avenge a recent assault, Walter and John Winter murder Three Indians but were hanged instead of thanked to cement relationships with the natives.