The speaker for the Jan 5 Rotary Luncheon was Club President Mike Markovitz, who spoke about the challenges and needs of the Tunkhannock Community Ambulance Association (TCAA) since the closure of Tyler Hospital. He related that ambulance runs that might take 1 hr when Tyler was opened, can now take 3-5 hr with travel to Wilkes-Barre or Scranton hospitals with crammed Emergency Rooms. This has impacted their daily operations, especially with a lack of volunteers to help man the ambulance service.
The TCAA has had to turn to paid staff to cover many shifts, which has a negative impact on their financials, especially due to the additional need to invest in equipment to help a little to offset the impact of fewer staff. The TCAA is currently recruiting both paid and volunteer staff, but even paid staff are difficult to find these days.
