STAR station opens in Greencastle

Courtesy photo ALS crew Nolan Carrillo and Cole Dean show off the new STAR Ambulance facility at 517 N. Indiana St., Greencastle.

The Greencastle STAR Ambulance station opened in Greencastle and was already taking calls on Tuesday.

Originally announced in late January, it is the fourth station for the Crawfordsville-based for-profit provider of basic and advanced life support ambulance service.

The new station is located at 517 N. Indiana St., a building two doors south of Shadowlawn Avenue that most recently housed Tri-County Plumbing.

At the time of the original announcement, STAR Vice President David Peck told the Banner Graphic the goal was to have the station opened by mid- to late-March, putting the March 1 opening well ahead of schedule.

Peck said they had worked “nearly ‘round the clock” to have the station open.

The facility is to be staffed with two crews and two ambulances at all times.

While Operation Life and PMH will remain the county’s provider for emergency 911 calls, STAR plans to provide transport services for Putnam County Hospital and local nursing facilities from the Greencastle location.

Peck said last month STAR had already been providing regular service to local facilities for six months.

“We’ve been now consistently doing a substantial amount of business for several months,” Peck said. “So we decided, why not get some people in the county and not have to drive people from Crawfordsville or Indianapolis into the county in order to do it?”

Peck said STAR has established a local number for dispatches – 720-1281.

STAR already has two Crawfordsville locations, from which it services Montgomery County as well as Lafayette, and an Indianapolis station.