HAYWOOD, Ky. — A new ambulance station is now open in Haywood, giving Barren-Metcalfe EMS a closer base of operations for serving communities in the southern end of Barren County.

The station’s opening comes about six months after officials broke ground on the $579,275 project, which was awarded to Collins Custom Homes in April.

The facility marks a milestone for the joint ambulance service serving Barren and Metcalfe counties. It is the first building in the organization’s history that it owns outright.

The new station is located beside the Haywood Volunteer Fire Department at the intersection of Matthews Mill Road and U.S. 31-E.

Its location was selected in part to address longer ambulance response times in southern Barren County. When the project was announced in April, EMS Director Dr. Joe Middleton said response times to some communities in that part of the county averaged about 20 minutes.

“We are significantly cutting response times and ensuring that when a neighbor calls 911, lifesaving care arrives faster than ever before,” Middleton said.

The additional station is intended to improve coverage in Haywood, Fountain Run, lower Temple Hill and communities around Barren River Lake.

Middleton previously said the agency would also need to redistribute portions of its existing coverage areas to balance workloads among its stations.

Middleton told the board in April that the Glasgow headquarters and airport station were originally constructed as commercial buildings, with residential and office spaces incorporated into the designs.

By comparison, the facilities in Metcalfe and Hart counties, where Middleton also oversees ambulance services, were designed more like homes, with larger garage areas. The Haywood location follows that model.

The Haywood facility becomes the fourth station in the Barren-Metcalfe EMS system, which began operations Jan. 1, 1975, after area funeral homes ended their ambulance services.