Moshannon Valley EMS Training and Ambulance Facility Moves Closer to Construction with $300,000 Grant

A new ambulance and training facility in Centre County is moving closer to construction thanks to a major grant award.

The county’s Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve the award of an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) grant in the amount of $300,000 to construct a new Moshannon Valley EMS facility in Rush Township.

The facility will be located at the former Philipsburg Area Hospital, which closed in 1991. The total project cost of $2,085,111 and will be funded by the ARC grant, $1.2 million in previously awarded state funding and $585,111 in local financing.

The 9,350-square-foot building will include a large training facility to support the operations of MVEMS and other organizations. It will also have garage space for eight ambulances.

Approximately 60 emergency medical services personnel will receive training annually at the new headquarters annually. More training opportunities are expected to help boost  the number of EMS personnel, for which there is a critical need in the rural communities.

The training center will create at least 10 new jobs, along with retaining 35 existing jobs, according to the county.

Wes Cartwright, MVEMS chief, told the commissioners that the facility is greatly needed.

“The training facility itself is going to be a big boost and it is something that is needed,” Cartwright said. “As we all know, EMS providers are hard to find and hard to get on board.” 

MVEMS is already doing trainings out of space at the Moshannon Valley Economic Development Partnership, including basic and advanced EMT and emergency responder courses.

Cartwright said in 2022 that the new facility has been in the works for about six years as the MVEMS and calls for service in its three-county area have grown.

“The facility, of course, we’ve outgrown where we’re at now a long time ago,” Cartwright said on Tuesday.

Along with the commissioners, U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, Sen. John Fetterman, Sen. Bob Casey and the Moshannon Valley Economic Development Partnership all assisted on the MVEMS facility project.

“Rural Pennsylvanians should feel safe knowing there are enough well-trained medical first responders ready to deliver critical, lifesaving care whenever there is a crisis,” Casey said in a statement “This grant will help ensure that the Moshannon Valley continues to have critical emergency medical services and will improve MVEMS’s capacity to train and support other medical first responders throughout rural Central Pennsylvania.”

Commissioner Mark Higgins called it a “team effort,” and Commissioner Amber Concepcion thanked all those who helped.

“As I’ve been the commissioner liaison to the Moshannon Valley Economic Partnership, it has become clear to me the critical role that Moshannon Valley EMS serves in terms of the overall healthcare infrastructure of that area of our county and into Clearfield County,” Concepcion said. “What you are doing there goes above and beyond what most EMS services are able to offer because of the community support for your organization and the kind of volunteer base that you have. I am really excited to see this move forward. It will be great for the Moshannon Valley.”

Commissioner Steve Dershem said he hopes the funding “will take a little bit of pressure off” of MVEMS for fundraising.

“We look forward to seeing a brand new facility here in the future,” Dershem said.

Cartwright said MVEMS expects to begin construction in fall 2024.

The application for the ARC grant was submitted on behalf of the county and MVEMS by Betsy Lockwood, director of development and grants for SEDA-COG, the community and development agency representing 11 counties.

ARC is an economic development partnership agency involving the federal government and 13 states, including Pennsylvania, to support projects to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth.