WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — With more than 30 years of experience in emergency medical services and a resume that included extensive experience in administration, Mike Witkowski was having a hard time finding his next professional challenge.

 

And when he saw the advertisement posted looking for someone to lead Village Ambulance Service, he was not overly optimistic.

 

"I was thinking it was a small organization, and they're probably going to say — like a lot of other small organizations I spoke with — 'You're overqualified,' " Witkowski recalled this week. "I said to myself, 'Well, it will just be another person telling me I'm overqualified,' so I stuck my resume in at the last minute."

 

It was worth a try.

 

On Monday, Witkowski settled into his new office as the executive director of the not-for-profit ambulance service, which serves Williamstown, Hancock, New Ashford and Southern Vermont.

 

The president of the board of directors said the board was not put off by Witkowski's resume, which includes 18 years with Rockland Paramedic Service in New York's lower Hudson Valley and more than a decade at Intermedix, a service provider to emergency medical services nationwide.

 

"We couldn't believe our good fortune when Mike appeared," Dr. Erwin Stuebner said. " 'Overqualified'? We were ready for that. That was not an issue at all.

 

"I think Mike's combination of professional EMS experience in the field and in management, combined with a significant degree of business experience is going to be unique for a small EMS service. And we're very fortunate to have him."

 

In fact board created the executive director title to suit Wiskowski's skill set. He was hired to replace former General Manager Shawn Godfrey, who left in September.

 

But Wiskowski is immediately preceded by longtime Village employee Rick Richer, who stepped in as interim GM after Godfrey's departure.

 

"The board and community owe Rick a debt of gratitude," Stuebner said. "I'm not sure what would have happened if Rick hadn't been willing to step up on a quick basis.

 

"We had very little advance warning his services would be needed. It was a quick transition for him, but he spent hours and days devoting himself to this. I'm not sure we would have survived had it not been for Rick's services."

 

Stuebner also credited the rest of the staff with helping steer the service through a difficult transition period that included turnover and a difficult fiscal climate for the ambulance business.

 

"Since the Affordable Care Act has gone into place, this year is the first year most ambulance services are being hurt because everybody has deductibles," Witkowski said. "No matter what insurance policy you have, there's a deductible attached to it. And we're getting hammered with low cash flow because of these deductibles.

 

"Now it's something we have to address.

 

"It's going to be one of the areas I'm going to work with the board to find other revenue streams so we can continue building the service."

 

Witkowski comes to Village Ambulance with a number of ideas about how to expand the service, and securing its financial base is just part of the goal.

 

"I'd like to see us continue to work hand-in-hand with the community," he said. "I'd like to see us continue to do more community outreach. And I'd like to bolster our budget a little bit."

 

Witkowski said the ambulance services' ties to the communities it serves helped draw him to the Berkshires.

 

"I've run multi-state organizations with 500 employees, I've run single, private ambulance services, I've worked in municipal-based ambulance services before," he said. "And the most enjoyable of all of them have been the not-for-profit organizations.

 

"I think because the not-for-profit organization's structure is community based. It's part of the community, and it's giving back to the community."