Upper Bucks Regional Emergency Medical Service is winding down operations after more than five decades of serving the region, marking a major shift in local emergency response.
The financially-strained nonprofit has agreed to join St. Luke’s University Health Network and has begun shuttering the organization, according to UBREMS board president Anthony Mills.
Under the agreement, roughly $1 million in UBREMS assets — including $100,000 in cash — will be transferred to St. Luke’s, a move approved by Bucks County Orphans Court.
The nine-member board will be reduced to four or five members to oversee the yearlong transition. All UBREMS employees have been hired by St. Luke’s and received raises, some described as significant.
While St. Luke’s officials tout expanded resources — including 39 ambulances equipped with advanced cardiac monitors, ventilators, and even whole blood supplies for trauma cases — the decision drew criticism from some local leaders.
