Lower Merion's ambulance provider has taken on a bigger role across the region. Narberth Ambulance began providing advanced life support to five Delaware County municipalities on Sept. 11, filling a gap left by Crozer Health's collapse in 2025.

The nonprofit ambulance service reached agreements with Glenolden, Norwood, Prospect Park, Ridley Park and Tinicum Township to deploy a paramedic intercept vehicle staffed with ALS personnel, the Delaware County Daily Times reported. In its first 10 days, the unit received 100 calls from the five communities.

Each municipality is paying $110,000 annually for the service. Glenolden Borough Manager Brian Razzi said the borough could recoup some costs through insurance reimbursements.

The expansion resolves a billing dispute that had been building for months. Ridley Township contracted with Narberth Ambulance in 2025 at a cost of $650,000 a year after Crozer-Chester Medical Center closed. But more than 40 percent of calls went to surrounding communities that were not paying anything, according to a Ridley Township statement. Township Manager Joe Ryan pressed publicly for reimbursement, arguing Ridley taxpayers were subsidizing emergency coverage for other towns at roughly $25,000 a month.

Those five municipalities have their own contracts with Narberth Ambulance.

Ridley Park Councilman Rich Guerra told the Daily Times the five towns selected Narberth Ambulance because of its track record in Delaware County, noting that many of the organization's EMTs live in the area.

Razzi said he was not aware of any deaths linked to the gap in ALS coverage after Crozer stopped providing the service. But first responders had reported longer response times.

"First responders were saying it's taking a little bit longer than it should. We've got to enhance the service," Razzi told the Daily Times.

Ashley Deihl, vice president of Prospect Park's borough council and chair of its public safety committee, told the Daily Times that families had been alarmed by the wait times and the strain on neighboring communities.

Crozer's collapse created the gap

Crozer Health's parent company, California-based Prospect Medical Holdings, filed for bankruptcy in January 2025. Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park closed that April, and Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland closed in May 2025, according to the Daily Times' year-in-review coverage. Nearly 3,000 workers lost their jobs. Crozer had previously provided emergency transport at no charge to more than half of Delaware County.

The closures strained remaining hospitals. Main Line Health reported a 41 percent increase in emergency room volume at Riddle Hospital in Middletown Township between March 2025 and May 2026, with average daily ER patients rising from 121 to 170, the Daily Times reported in July.

Narberth Ambulance's growing footprint

Narberth Ambulance, a nonprofit founded in 1944, already serves Lower Merion, Narberth, Haverford, Conshohocken and West Conshohocken. It responded to more than 20,000 calls last year, according to Main Line Media News. The organization added Lansdowne in 2022 and Ridley Township in 2025 before taking on the five new communities.

The paramedic intercept vehicle will work alongside ambulances operated by the Tinicum and Norwood fire companies.

Meanwhile, a separate group of five Delaware County municipalities is forming its own EMS authority. Nether Providence, Rose Valley, Rutledge, Swarthmore and Upper Providence each approved articles of incorporation on Sept. 2 for the Municipal Emergency Medical Services Authority of Delaware County. That authority is expected to begin service in early 2027, funded by a per-property fee rather than a property tax.