Federal court sets distribution of Jeannette EMS cash assets

The $25,000 in cash remaining in the Jeannette EMS bankruptcy case is being distributed to three unsecured creditors, attorneys and others, according to a federal court order filed this month.

There was $9,700 designated for administrative expenses — fees for the bankruptcy trustee, two law firms and an accounting firm. The remaining $15,600 was paid to Capital One, Pittsburgh law firm Vuono & Gray and Freedom Advantage Insurance Co.

It wasn’t anywhere near the almost $400,000 those three unsecured creditors had claimed Jeannette EMS owed them, records show.

The ambulance provider shut down abruptly July 3, 2023, after 63 years in business. Jeannette EMS filed to liquidate its holdings under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code two months later. It has since sold off two SUVs and two ambulances for $23,500.

That sale, in addition to a $2,000 donation, accounted for the money left to be split among creditors. The former station building on South Sixth Street previously was removed from the bankruptcy estate.

Federal bankruptcy Judge Carlota M. Böhm this month approved the final report and distribution plan submitted by the trustee. No secured creditors, those who have property that can be seized, were paid through the plan.

Three secured creditors, including KeyBank, claim Jeannette EMS owes them a total of $781,500, according to the plan filed in federal court. KeyBank filed a $340,000 judgement and mortgage foreclosure action in Westmoreland County civil court shortly after the agency closed.

Ambulance officials at the time of the closure said insufficient funding and low insurance reimbursement rates made it impossible to continue operating. Mutual Aid EMS now covers Jeannette.