In a 4-0 vote, the Brownsville City Commission rejected an appeal of a denial of a license request for transportation services by Intercity Ambulance during its meeting earlier tonight.
Interim City Manager Michael Lopez recommended that the request continue to be denied as the city did not need the proposed services at this time.
“There is a code permit for non-emergency transfers and what they have an opportunity to appeal is if the city deems that we need those services,” Lopez said. “At this time, those services are not needed.”
He also said the city should address items of greater importance, such as improving ambulance wait times.
“We are working with our fire departments to figure out how we can increase our response times, getting the communications with the PD and also determining quicker routes to be able to arrive at the [distress] site quicker,” Lopez told The Rider after the meeting. “Also, we have an issue of when we get to the hospitals; there is a waiting time for hospital beds. So, [because of this], our vehicles are staying put. What we need to figure out is how to get the individual out of our ambulance sooner.”
In other city business, the commission approved the hiring of Dr. John Wells as the Brownsville Fire Department medical director.
Wells has been temporarily serving the city for four months and was the medical director in 1980s.
“I was an EMS medical director before,” he told The Rider after the city meeting. “I started this EMS back in the ’80s. This was my conception from the beginning. It’s an opportunity to come back and build on what we already made.”
Wells’ contract is for a term of three years that ends in 2021. He will be paid a salary of $60,000 per year.
