Scott Lash, Operations Manager of the Boothbay Region Ambulance Service, was the featured speaker at last week’s meeting of the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club. He reviewed the actions the service is taking to cope with the changes at St. Andrews.

Since ambulance patients are no longer accepted at St. Andrews, deliveries are now made to Miles or Mid Coast hospitals, which means much longer trips. The consolidation of facilities results in fewer beds being available locally, which requires more trips farther afield, to Lewiston, Bangor, etc. All of this has required the Service to have two ambulances available full time.

The decline of volunteerism in America that has been noted in works such as “Bowling Alone” has also affected the operations of the Ambulance Service. The staff, which in the past consisted almost exclusively of volunteers, now comprises only 9 volunteers, but 36 paid staff members (not all full-time).

The service is attempting to minimize the resulting increased costs by developing programs to utilize staff members between calls for activities such as monitoring at-risk patients and administering tests and medications (such as flu shots) at the patient’s home, which is more cost effective than providing such services in a physician’s office or in a hospital.

The service has also equipped a conference room for videoconferencing, so that, for example, staff can participate in training sessions led by faculty located in Boston or elsewhere without the travel time and expense that would otherwise be involved.

With a view to improving communications with the towns it serves, the service has restructured its board to consist of three members from the towns along with four internal members.

The presentation held the interest of the audience, as evidenced by numerous questions to Lash and to Service President Robbie Ham, who accompanied him.

President Jen Page Osman had opened the meeting with the pledge of allegiance, followed by Viv Daniels with the invocation. Chef Kim Mills anticipated St. Patrick’s Day with the traditional dinner of corned beef and cabbage, served up by Waiters Connie Jones and Doug Harley under the supervision of Steward Steve Salorio.

First up after supper was Jim Botti, chair of the club’s annual Soup Bowl Supper, who is seeking further contributions of soups/chowders, salads and desserts, and is also looking for members to help with setup, waiters, pickup, cleanup and return. The event will take place on April 3 at the American Legion Hall; doors open at 6 p.m.

Mike Thompson presented the building committee’s final cost estimate of $176,839 (including a contingency reserve of $25,000) for the new clubhouse. The Board has authorized Mike to negotiate final details of the contract with Tidewater Construction, to be submitted to the Board for approval at its next meeting.

Deb Graves reminded members of the District New Generations Conference, incorporating participants in all the District youth programs, Interact, Rotaract and RYLA, which will be held at York High School on Saturday, March 29, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Dwight Swisher put in a plug for the District Grant Management Seminar at the Red Cross Chapter House in Topsham on Thursday, April 3, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Our club is required to have at least two members complete this course to qualify for participation in district grants. It is also an opportunity for members, particularly new members, to learn how Rotary grants work. Frank Helman noted that members planning to attend the Soup Bowl Supper on April 3 could still take advantage of a Grant Management Seminar at Westbrook Middle School on March 29 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

To learn more about Rotary and about our club and all the good stuff we do visit our website: www.boothbayharborrotary.org, or like us on Facebook. Prospective members, visiting Rotarians and guests are always welcome to join us at our weekly meetings, held Thursday nights at The Gallery, 102 Ocean Point Road in Boothbay Harbor. Conviviality commences around 6 p.m., dinner is served promptly at 6:30 p.m., and we then have a short business meeting followed by a special speaker. The evening ends at 8 p.m.