Ballot measure asks Cambrians to fund a new ambulance station 

The Cambria Community Healthcare District recently received a $1 million grant toward its yearslong goal of building a new ambulance station, thanks to U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Monterey). A remaining $6 million is needed for the project—which Cambria voters will decide whether to fund on the upcoming November ballot.

Cambria's current ambulance station, located in a 67-year-old converted medical building with electrical and plumbing issues, is the closest emergency medical resource that Cambria and surrounding communities have, with the nearest hospital being at least 30 miles away.

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• Photo Courtesy Of Cambria Community Healthcare District
• OUT WITH THE OLD The Cambria Community Healthcare District is working toward replacing its current ambulance station, which is in a 67-year-old converted medical building with major electrical and plumbing issues.

Measure C24, the Ambulance Facility Replacement Measure, would increase property taxes by $7.90 per $100,000 of any property's assessed value. Healthcare District board member Laurie Mileur said this would increase property taxes by an average of $50 per year, per household.

"There's a lot of moving parts to it," Mileur told New Times. "But we have a very engaged board of directors, and we work well with our staff and the community."

According to Mileur, the district is hopeful that Cambria residents will approve the bond measure in November after the district's prior attempt in 2022 failed by 200 votes.

Measure G22 had proposed that the ambulance station would cost $8.5 million. It received a 61 percent approval from voters—about 5 percent short of the supermajority required for a special tax to pass.

"It was close, but not close," Mileur said.

So the district took those results back to the drawing board. It cut the new station's cost by $2 million and decreased the overall size and the accompanying apparatus bay, a space for ambulances and materials to be stored and maintained.

If approved this November, the current station off Main Street would be torn down and the new building constructed in the same space. The Healthcare District determined this was the most cost effective route.

"We thought our best option was to put in a new facility that would last for the next 30 to 40 years, instead of having to constantly need to be repaired," Mileur said.

The Cambria Ambulance Station is open 24 hours a day and is manned by four staff with two ambulances. It supports Cambria as well as communities along the coast from Harmony to Monterey.

According to Healthcare District Administrator Linda Hendy, the district hopes to create a better functioning building and provide more quality housing for those on shift.

"It's a matter of just replacing that and providing our first responders with adequate living quarters and making it more comfortable—definitely bring it to the 21st century here," Hendy said.

If the C24 ballot measure passes in November, bids and construction would start as soon as possible. Δ