LILLY — In a surprise move, the Lilly Ambulance Service officially closed it doors effective midnight Sunday and a member contacted the Cambria County 911 dispatch center at 8 a.m. Monday to say that its ambulances were out of service.

Any ambulance calls from residents of Lilly Borough and Washington Township are now being handled by the Cresson Area Ambulance Service with the Portage Area Ambulance Service as second responder.

“We did receive a call this morning that 741 – which is Lilly – is out of service and they’ve been replaced by 75 – which is Cresson,” Ron Springer, director of Cambria County Emergency Management Services, said Monday.

Citing lack of calls and volunteers, the Lilly service has been moving toward closure for a number of months. Talks with Cresson, which expressed willingness to expand its service, appeared to hit a snag in February and the last word from Lilly was that it would continue to operate for six months then re-evaluate.

But Lilly Borough and Washington Township officials, who are ultimately responsible for assuring residents have emergency services, continued the talks with some members of the Lilly board of directors and Cresson, The Tribune-Democrat has learned.

Meetings were held Wednesday and again Friday when a tentative agreement was reached. The document spelling out terms for Cresson’s expanded service area was signed Sunday.

“We’ve closed the deal and it (the Lilly service) shut down as of 8 a.m. this morning,” Paul Sklodowski, a member of the Lilly ambulance board and Lilly Borough Council,  said Monday.

The seal of approval to the switch to Cresson is expected by Lilly Borough tonight and Washington Township on Wednesday night.

“The township and the borough have both been heavily involved in the talks. They’re both on board with it,” Sklodowski said.

Tom McConnell, spokesman for the Cresson service, could not be reached for comment, but the transition of service was confirmed in an e-mail from Cresson service manager James Effinger.

Several members of the Lilly service have already joined Cresson and will continue to provide emergency medical technician services to the area, Effinger said.

Sklodowski termed the transition as smooth with no loss of ambulance coverage for Lilly and surrounding areas.

“There was no compromise in patient care,” he said.

Longtime Lilly board President Jack Barlick said he was not involved in the final days’ negotiations, but he will not object to the agreement.

“Although I am not 100 percent sold on this agreement, I will sign the necessary paperwork to finalize it,” he said.

The options open to the service were limited once the municipal officials said they would continue negotiations with Cresson, Barlick said.

The state requires that an ambulance service closing its doors provide a 90 day notice to the state Department of Health and the Southern Alleghenies Emergency Health Services Council.

Southern Alleghenies EMS Council Executive Director Sandra Jablonski said her agency was unaware of Lilly’s sudden decision, but it should pose no problems.

“The 90 day (notice) is for discontinuation of service, this is a reorganization” she said.

Jablonski said the notice provision is not about penalty or punishment for services that are reorganizing.

The Lilly service was formed 35 years ago and long was able to remain financially stable, but much has changed.

“The demographics have just changed too darn much,” Sklodowski said. “We have an (annual) run load of 200 and we need 500 to 600 to be feasible.”

Meanwhile, Jablonski had high praise for the Lilly service, which gave up only after a long fight.

“Lilly has done a good job. Lilly has worked toward a solution,” she said. “They need to be congratulated for this.”