Ellwood City Community Health Foundation Grants Money to Ellwood City Fire Department

The old Hospital Foundation, now known as The Ellwood City Community Health Association, has donated $57,772.10 to the Ellwood City Volunteer Fire Department to assist with equipment for the QRS (Quick Response Service). The fire department responds to medical emergencies in the borough and stabilizes patients until an EMS unit can get on scene.

When the former Ellwood City Hospital was purchased by Americore Holdings in 2017 it became a for-profit entity therefore they were not able to donate money to them any longer, and from 2017-2020 the foundation went through the process to become a separate non-profit entity.

The first year that the now formed Ellwood City Community Health Association was able to give back to the community was 2021. The goal now is to provide grants and scholarships to organizations and students in the health care field. They will cover Ellwood City and both Lawrence and Beaver Counties as they benefited from the former hospital.

The fire department received $5,900 for firefighter physicals. $45,322.10 for a new heart monitor/AED and $6,500 for supplies and life saving equipment.

“This is a huge step for public safety in Ellwood City,” says Chief Rick Myers.

“We are now better equipped to save lives in a timely manner. Our firefighters who are not only highly trained in Firefighting and Rescue operations, are also trained in the medical aspects of the job. We have saved numerous lives since we implemented our QRS service in 2012. We cannot thank the board for awarding our grant requests and we can not wait to see where this new equipment will take us and what it will do for our community.”

The average response time for the fire department to show up at your doorstep after you call 911 is 3-5 minutes in the Borough of Ellwood City according to Myers.

Most times the caller is still on the phone with 911! Since the hospital closed almost two years ago, we are now the first level of care for our community and we take pride in being able to do that quickly and efficiently.