The Cole County Commission announced Wednesday morning an ambulance service director from the state of California will take over as director of Cole County Ambulance Service (EMS).
Jerry Johnston's career in EMS has spanned more than four decades, most recently serving as director of operations for the Paramedics Plus Alameda County Operation, which includes the Oakland, California, area, overseeing 400 employees.
Before that, Johnston served for 22 years as EMS director for a hospital-based system in Iowa. He is also a past president of the National Association of EMTs, an organization for which he has served in numerous leadership positions.
In 2001, he was the recipient of NAEMT's William Klingensmith EMS Administrator of the Year award.
Johnston will start the director position in January.
The search for a new director started in July after former director Mike Shirts was demoted from the position amid complaints from staff with concerns of low morale and how the operation of the service was being handled.
The commission then engaged Paramedics Plus to work on system enhancements to the operation of the ambulance service, including a reorganization of personnel. That company, based in Tyler, Texas, offers staffing and leadership management for EMS services across the country. Paramedics Plus did the recruiting for this position.
The commission also agreed in September to add four dispatchers as the service changed how it handles incoming emergency calls.
Cole County EMS has 75 employees, 45 full time and 30 part time. It has a fleet of 12 ambulances, 10 of which are active. The most ambulances on duty is seven and the least is four. The average peak call time is 1 a.m.-7 p.m.
Ambulances are based at five locations - the EMS base on Southridge Drive; the Regional West Fire Protection Station on Apache Trail; the Cole County Fire Protection Stations at Brazito and County Park; and Monday through Friday at the Cole County Jail.
"I think one of the things that drew Jerry here was that his family is from Iowa, and he'll be closer to them," Cole County Presiding Commissioner Sam Bushman said. "I think initially we went through about 20 applications. We whittled that down to nine or 10, and they either came to Jefferson City or we did video interviews with them. We got it down to two, and Jerry had so much more experience."
Bushman said Paramedics Plus will stay for a short time to help with the transition.
"We met with the EMS staff and told them before we made the news public," he said. "The amazing thing is no one has left the service since we started this process. They deserve a good director, and we'll become a stronger team. We said it before and we mean it - we want the best ambulance system in the state. This has been a long drawn out process, but we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."
"I know and understand the Midwest, and now that I've completed my career goal of overseeing a large EMS system, I started entertaining a goal of moving back to the Midwest," Johnston said. "I think there's a great foundation in Cole County. The employees are spoken of very highly, the commitment of community is rock solid and the ambulance equipment is top notch. All that's part of the reason why I was interested in the job."
Link:
Johnston bio at www.paramedicsplus.com/provider/jerry-johnston/