A bank wants to take possession of the Jeannette EMS station to cover a $340,000 debt.

KeyBank filed the mortgage foreclosure action Wednesday in Westmoreland County court claiming the ambulance station on South Sixth Street defaulted on repayments of a $275,000 line of credit issued in 2008.

The agency used the station and property as collateral to increase the line of credit from $200,000 to $275,000, according to the court filing.

Jeannette EMS closed without notice July 3, an apparent violation of state law that requires at least 90 days written notice to the state Department of Health of an intention to discontinue service.

A department spokesperson said the EMS Act and related regulations require an ambulance agency to provide advance notice to the department, 911, a regional EMS council and members of political subdivisions within its service area.

The appropriate regional council was notified July 3. A spokesperson said the department planned to “engage” with Jeannette EMS.

The unexpected closure sent city officials scrambling to get an interim plan in place to make sure residents had ambulance coverage. Mutual Aid and Penn Township Ambulance covered the city for 10 days until council approved an agreement with Mutual Aid July 13 to provide ambulance service in Jeannette through the end of 2023.

John F. Nobbs, an attorney with the law firm Bowles Rice, said the closure process for a nonprofit ambulance agency can take more than a year. He worked through those moving parts to help Rescue 14 in Adamsburg when it closed in 2021 and merged with Mutual Aid.

An agency’s board of directors is required to vote on a plan of liquidation and dissolution to kick off the process of closing, Nobbs said. It was unclear if Jeannette EMS board members took that vote. Board members could not be reached Wednesday.

The plan is required to be sent to the state Attorney General’s Office and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. A spokesman with the Attorney General’s Office said Wednesday the agency didn’t have a plan from Jeannette EMS to provide a reporter.

After the plan is finalized, Nobbs said, a nonprofit agency can collect any money due and sell assets to pay off liabilities.

“Depending on what their assets are, they may or may not be able to satisfy all the liabilities that they have,” he said.

If an agency does have extra cash and assets, state law requires them to distribute it to another charitable entity, Nobbs said. That’s where the Attorney General’s Office gets involved to make sure that process is followed.

The line of credit was opened in July 1997 for $25,000 and ballooned over the years. A judgment against Jeannette EMS was issued July 13 to pay $339,904 to KeyBank for outstanding principal and interest and late fees, according to court filings.

The remaining principal is $231,500. Interest amounts to $105,000 as of July 6. Late charges were about $3,500. The bank is seeking additional interest and late fees starting July 7.

Jeannette EMS director of operations Randy Highlands could not be reached Wednesday.

The ambulance service was in business for 63 years before it shut down. Highlands previously pointed to insufficient funding and low insurance reimbursement rates as reasons for the closure.

The city provided Jeannette EMS with $1,000 monthly and that financial arrangement will continue for Mutual Aid, making Jeannette the first municipality to provide direct financial support to the Greensburg-based agency.

Jeannette EMS averaged 1,800 calls annually. Mutual Aid serves 33 municipalities, including Jeannette — 28 in Westmoreland County and five in Fayette. The agreement with the city will be re-evaluated toward the end of the year.

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