Jeannette EMS bankruptcy filing reports more than $850,000 in debts
Jeannette EMS Inc. revealed in a bankruptcy court filing this week it has more than $850,000 in debts that will go unpaid once administrative costs are covered.
The ambulance service, which closed July 3, said in a bankruptcy filing that among the debts not secured by any collateral are a U.S. Small Business Administration disaster relief loan exceeding $339,000, and a $134,800 business loan from Silverline Services of Rockville Centre, N.Y., according to a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh. Its various debts totaled $1.19 million, including other business loans and money owed for fuel, printing services and worker’s compensation insurance.
Randy Highlands, former Jeannette EMS operations director, is disputing whether he is a co-debtor for that business loan from Silverline Services.
When the ambulance service filed to liquidate its holdings under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code Sept. 11, it had $834,000 in assets, including its ambulance base on South Second Street worth $300,000. It listed emergency medical services equipment worth $300,000 and $48,000 in vehicles.
Its biggest secured creditor, Key Bank, is owed $339,904 on a mortgage and line of credit. Key Bank had won a judgment in Westmoreland County Court in July to foreclose on the mortgage and line of credit, that had used the ambulance base and property as a collateral, as well as assorted emergency medical services equipment.
Jeannette EMS shed some of its debt by turning over two ambulances to the Irwin EMS in return for that agency assuming the $140,000 debt from a USDA loan.
While Jeannette EMS generated close to $500,000 in revenue in the six months it operated this year, putting it on pace to top the $590,200 in revenue in 2022, the filing also details the struggles that ambulance services face in getting paid for services.
Of the almost $176,000 in outstanding bills for providing 348 ambulance trips dating back to January, patients receiving service owed Jeannette EMS about $40,600 for 152 trips.
Health insurance providers owe the ambulance service money, according to the bankruptcy filing.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
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