Stewart's Ambulance Service sold, but poised for growth

By MICHAEL KITCH, LACONIA DAILY SUN

MEREDITH — Stewart's Ambulance Services, which provides emergency medical services to Meredith and neighboring towns, has been sold to Transformative Healthcare and its parent company Kamylon Holdings, a managerial holding company headquartered in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

The transfer of ownership required and this week received the consent of the Board of Selectmen.

Justin Van Etten, who has owned the company for the past nine years, assured the selectmen that only the ownership of the company will change. The employees, including Van Etten himself, will all remain with the company.

"We'll still have maroon ambulances and still be at 20 Foundry Avenue," he said.

Van Etten, who will become become chairman and chief executive officer of Transformative Healthcare, said that his contract grants him authority for at least the next five years to veto any operational changes at Stewart's Ambulance Services that would compromise public safety.

Explaining his decision to sell the company, Van Etten said that Medicare payments represent the largest share of its revenues and noted that "the rules and regulations grow more ridiculous and convoluted" and "the penalties for making a mistake become more severe." He said that the cost of compliance weighs particularly heavily on small firms like Stewart's.

Van Etten said that he chose to Kamylon Holdings in part because the company has roots in the Lakes Region, where one of the founding partners has a season home in Wolfeboro and one of the directors summers in Meredith, the year-round home of his parents.

At the same time, Van Etten said that Kamylon Holdings acquires small locally owned firms, often owned and operated by entrepreneurs with annual sales of $8 million to $80 million, then works closely with them to achieve long-term success. A year ago, Kamylon Holdings acquired LifeLine Ambulance Service, which serves metropolitan areas in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Van Etten said that Stewart's Ambulance Service will serve as a similar platform as the company extends its reach into more rural areas of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.

Van Etten suspected Kamylon Holdings picked Stewart's Ambulance Service becaue it is one of the oldest 911 emergency medical service providers in New England with what he believes is "the best reputation New Hampshire."