Lincolnwood closing ambulance station inside the Carrington assisted living facility, citing slower response times to western parts of the village

by CYRYL JAKUBOWSKI

The ambulance substation that opened in 2021 at the Carrington assisted living facility at 3501 N. Northeast Pkwy. is “ineffective” and the Village of Lincolnwood is scrapping the idea and closing the site, citing detrimentally slower response times in some cases to western parts of the community in the evening and night.

The Lincolnwood Village Board of Trustees at its Sept. 7 meeting approved a resolution terminating an agreement with the Carrington at Lincolnwood (SBLP Lincolnwood LLC) that called for operating an emergency medical services bay at the assisted living facility.

The agreement had an initial term of 10 years with subsequent automatic 5-year renewals, according to documents from the village in 2017, when the agreement was approved.

But it was wishful thinking.  At the meeting, fire chief Barry Liss said that after almost 3 years of data, the effectiveness of the station did not go as planned.

Liss said that Fire Station 45 was part of a planned development in 2015 along with the construction of the Carrington. Developers insisted on having the 954 square-foot emergency medical facility that included an ambulance garage, a combined office and bunkhouse area for fire department personnel.

Under the plan, the department’s only ambulance was transferred to the substation every day between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. from the Lincolnwood Fire Department Station 15, 6900 N. Lincoln Ave., when call volumes throughout the village have been statistically low.

The substation, reportedly being the only ambulance at an assisted living community in the suburbs,  lacked amenities which prevented the site to function independently of the main fire station, Liss said.

Liss said personnel could not properly bathe, disinfect following potential infectious disease exposure during the pandemic, prepare meals, restock medical supplies, and have proper drinkable water.

The facility lacked a dedicated and reliable station alerting system, the chief said. The station was supposed to serve two assisted living facilities, the Lincolnwood Town Center and other eastern parts of the village.

Liss said that the fire department utilizes one ambulance, one fire engine and one tower ladder truck to respond to about 3,000 incidents a year, with 70 percent of those calls being for paramedic care. The chief said 70 percent of calls occur at locations other than the Carrington or the Lincolnwood Place, 7000 N. McCormick Blvd.

Liss said that response times from the east substation significantly delayed the department’s ability to quickly reach the western portions of the village including the tower section, District 1860 and planned hotels at Lincoln and Touhy avenues, and for incidents on the Edens Expressway during  the evening and night.

“Unfortunately, our statistical analysis has proven (the substation) to be ineffective, and in some cases detrimental to response times to other areas within the community. As such, staff recommends the immediate discontinued use of the remote EMS substation,” village documents said.

The chief said that the main station’s central  location is the perfect spot to respond to all areas of the village in a timely manner. Despite the high demand of calls for service coming from the Carrington or the Lincolnwood Place, the department’s ability is equally effective to respond from the main fire department.

“Given the heavy amount of calls that are anticipated for the Carrington, and the load of calls we already have with about 22 percent of calls going to Lincolnwood Place nearby, it makes sense to have an EMS facility in this part of the community,” former community development director Steve McNellis said at the time it was approved in 2017. 

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