Workforce Turnover Not an Issue, Kan. EMS Director Says

Feb. 18--Finney County Emergency Medical Services does not have significant issues with retaining staff, according to EMS and county officials.

Finney County EMS lost seven employees over the last year from an office that has 18 full-time and 32 part-time positions. Of those seven, one left to go to medical school, three left when the administration changed in September 2010, one left to become a helicopter pilot paramedic, and two left for jobs that offered better pay closer to home.

"It's not a turnover problem," said Finney County EMS Director Joe Hopkins. "This is basic, normal, everyday stuff."

The office has a 2012 budget of $1.4 million and ran 2,623 calls last year. According Hopkins, the office billed out $814,000 last year, which then brought in $472,000 after contractual write-offs from insurance and government health agencies. The $472,000 collected was approximately $122,000 over the expected amount for the year.

Hopkins said that he could not blame the two people that left for better paying opportunities closer to home. He said that they were getting better opportunities and that to him it meant that EMS had hired smart people.

"If they can save $200 a month driving to be closer to home with better pay, then why not," Hopkins said.

In regard to the three staff that left when Hopkins took the director position, Hopkins said that it is common for some personnel to leave as a new administration comes in. He also jokingly said that there wasn't any way he could compete with helicopters.

County Commissioner Roman Halbur agreed that Finney County EMS doesn't have any particular problem with turnover. He said that more than anything else, the main issues are the high requirements for the position along with the difficulty in having people move to western Kansas.

"There's no problems at all," Halbur said in regard to the EMS office. "We're just kind of a training class."

Hopkins, who was doing interviews Friday afternoon for two open positions, said frankly that starting wages for EMS positions were low. He said that the low wages, along with the high call volume and the location of the job make it difficult to be an attractive job to a field currently in high demand across the nation.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, median hourly wages of Emergency Medical Technicians and paramedics were $14.10 in May 2008.

The budget for Finney County EMS is set by the county commission, and Hopkins said that he was trying to get an increase in his budget so he can better attract recruits. He said a bigger budget would be very significant in his ability to compete with areas like Wichita or Kansas City, but that he has not had luck in convincing the commission so far.

"It will help with recruitment and retention, a lot," Hopkins said.

To offer a better incentive for retention, Hopkins said he made increases in the budget to allow for more training opportunities, which allow for different kinds of accreditations and specialties.

Though a bigger budget would be a definite help, Hopkins said that it's difficult to determine how his office will deal with a stationary budget.

"It's hard to say," Hopkins said. "Nationwide, there's a shortage of paramedics, but enrollments are increasing at the community college."

There's also the issue of the potential privatization of Finney County EMS, which Hopkins said would likely not solve any issues. The issue came up through a presentation initiated by national ambulance service provider American Medical Response at Monday's county commission meeting.

Hopkins said that public services are specialized to service over dollars, something that a private company does not do. He added that salaries and high call volumes are problems that a private company wouldn't have the long-term solutions for.

"I don't think privatizing will fix it," Hopkins said.

Copyright 2012 - The Garden City Telegram, Kan.