Today will be the the first of 2 public meetings to address Port Matilda EMS possibly closing.
The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 pm at the Port Matilda Fire Company on Plank Road.
In 2020, the EMS had a staff of 10, but now there’s only 2 people remaining.
Due to lack of staffing, the EMS says they can’t maintain the service.
The current hourly rate is just $11.00 per hour, and officials say the low pay caused past staff to leave for other opportunities and makes things difficult in trying to hire people.
“Our demands have never really been different than what they’ve always been. we need funding. We need to be able to increase the wages of our employees to bring them at least up to what the average is in the Centre region, in Centre County. the plan for the 10th is to let them be aware of what our needs are.”
The second meeting will be a town hall meeting on Tuesday, January 24th at the Julian Grange Hall.