EMS speeds ahead with new director: Madewell named to temporarily replace Roberts
|
Madewell had been director for a short time when the county sold the ambulance service. When the county bought it back in 1988, Madewell was made director and held the position until September of 1999 when Roberts took over, giving Madewell over 12 years experience on the job.
Rogers and Madewell want to assure the people of Warren County that EMS will continue uninterrupted and is in experienced hands.
“As everybody knows, the previous director resigned and I was asked by the county executive to come in as temporary director until further notice and I agreed to do that,” Madewell said. “The ambulance service so far has run smoothly. We’ve got some really great people out there, some of the best in the state I think. I did this for 12 to 14 years before and as far as I know, everything’s OK.”
According to Rogers, a permanent director will be hired eventually.
“It’ll be a process of letting the word out that we are interested in hiring one,” Rogers said, “and going through the applications, and finding the most qualified person to take over at the helm.”
Rogers said even though Madewell is listed as acting director, if he is interested in the permanent position, he can apply just like anyone else.
Rogers didn’t indicate any major changes are in the works, but the Safety Committee of the newly elected County Commission has been discussing the service during its meetings with an eye to providing more so-called “convalescent runs” for residents of Warren County.
Convalescent runs are essentially the transport of non-emergency patients to and from local and metropolitan medical facilities. Once considered a major source of income and profit for the service, new insurance regulations have reduced the level of profit, according to some sources, particularly on runs from rest homes and residential health care facilities.
These types of runs are a topic of controversy for Safety Committee members, some of whom feel that when county ambulances are idle, they could be used effectively for this type of service. Others feel since the county only has four emergency vehicles, they should all be kept available for life-threatening emergencies and not used for non-emergency transport.
No action has been taken on the convalescent runs.