Press Room

December 13, 2005

For Immediate Release

Rural/Metro Shows Off New Headquarters

At a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house on November 30, the community welcomed its new partner in safety, Rural/Metro Ambulance.  The company welcomed Salem Fire Department officials, community leaders and citizens to the event.

Rural/Metro was selected by city officials through a competitive bid process to provide the Salem area with emergency and non-emergency ambulance transportation starting July 1, 2005.  The Salem Fire Department had provided this service within its assigned Ambulance Service Area (ASA) for the past 25 years, but reductions in Medicare and Medicaid payments made this change necessary.  The Salem Fire Department will continue providing Paramedic level first response care with Engine and Ladder companies on all emergency medical calls and have retained four ambulances for back-up support to Rural Metro and the neighboring fire agencies in periods of high call volume or catastrophic events. 

“We are committed to providing the highest levels of emergency medical transportation,” said Boo Heffner, President of Rural/Metro's West Emergency Services Group.

The recently remodeled Rural/Metro headquarters located at 1790 Front St NE includes a staff standby area, vehicle service bays, and classrooms for training purposes.  This 8326 sq. foot building was formerly a vacant warehouse.  The company purchased eight new ambulances and hired 75 full- and part-time staff and emergency medical technicians.  Rural/Metro is now equipped to provide Salem with 24-hour medical transportation service.

At its official open house, Salem City Councilman Frank Walker praised the working relationship between the fire department and Rural/Metro.  He noted that the fire department was able to begin staffing an additional advanced life support engine company to improve response times.

“We are pleased to have been chosen as a partner to the Salem Fire Department,” said Greg Klopfenstein, manager of the Rural/Metro Salem operations.  “We have invested more than a million dollars in start-up costs here and we look forward to a long and healthy relationship serving both emergency and non-emergency medical transportation.”

Council President Jim Randall noted that the Salem public/private partnership was both unique and innovative.  “The result,” Randall declared, “will be both high quality emergency medical transportation and care for Salem residents and visitors.”

This new-to-Salem company was created with a single fire truck as its sole asset over 50 years ago.  Today, Rural/Metro provides ambulance service to over 400 communities with more than 8,000 employees.