LYONS, N.Y. — Wayne County is launching a countywide ambulance program this summer. This comes as a relief to some of its rural communities.

John Wiltsie has been with the Town of Lyons Ambulance for 16 years.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I've always wanted to do fire, then I got into EMS,” Wiltsie said. “It's about saving lives." 

But after years of struggling, the service will be dissolving this summer.

“If you broke even, you had a good year," town of Lyons Supervisor Jim Brady said. "The last four or five years, well, six-hundred-sixty-some-odd thousand dollars uncollectable."

“It's going to be a change, but a good change for the community," Wiltsie said.

Wayne County is buying all the equipment and will temporarily be leasing the barn for the launch of its own countywide ambulance service.

“Over the last 20 years, we've lost approximately half of our emergency medical provider agencies," Wayne County Administrator Rick House said. "That's devastating, especially in the eastern, more rural part of our county."

It’s the first step in an initial $10 million plan that will ultimately grow to include six ambulances and three bases spread across the county by 2024.

“As the need is growing greater, we're growing with it,” House said.

For rural communities like Lyons, Brady says the program is expected to save them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“We can spend on infrastructure, we can spend on different things that we really need," Brady said.

But the director of emergency services, Jim Lee wants to be clear: the county isn’t looking to replace any ambulance services hoping to stick around.

“It's not our goal to put other agencies out of business," Lee said. "It's our goal to supplement the services that are out there now and to make the system better."

It comes at a time when the EMS industry is struggling with recruitment, mutual aid and response times.

“There's a shortage in EMS all the way around,” Wiltsie said. “EMTs and paramedics now, they're down a huge percentage in the area." 

Wayne County believes this is the best possible move.

“If you're having a heart attack or something like that, do you care what it says on the ambulance? As long as they're there,” Brady said.

And don't worry about Wiltsie. With opportunities on the horizon, he says he doesn't plan on leaving the industry anytime soon.

"I'm 60 years old right now, and you start out new as an employee, in any job that you go to,” Wiltsie said.