The overview
Services by the North Hays EMS Emergency Service District No. 1 will officially start April 7. North Hays EMS Chief Bob Luddy said he doesn’t anticipate the transition will have an impact on services to residents in the area.
“None of the trucks are going to be taken out of service,” Luddy said. “Everybody is going to just continue running calls up here. Some of them will just be wearing a different uniform than what they were before.”
However, there are a number of San Marcos Hays County EMS employees that have resigned early to go to North Hays EMS, SMHCEMS Chief Jill Rosales said during a board meeting March 17. Because North Hays services will go live April 7, there will be a week where other current SMHCEMS personnel will have to fill in the missing shifts.
Both Luddy and Rosales said they are working on a plan to ensure there are no gaps in services, though the details of the plan are currently being ironed out.
Rosales said about 30 SMHCEMS employees are set to leave the company and start work with North Hays. Still, she said emergency services in the remaining SMHCEMS areas should continue as normal.
“We're going to go forward just like we would still be going forward if they were here,” she said. “Everything kind of just washes in the end and makes it so that we're still functional and can still continue to provide the services that we've been providing for the rest of our service area.”
Members of the Hays County EMS Association, the labor union that represents the SMHCEMS field staff, said they are still concerned with the impact to emergency services in the area.
“While we still disagree with the decision to pursue this risky venture, for the health and safety of the citizens they serve, we wish them the best of luck in all their future endeavors,” union President Zack Phillips said.
How we got here
ESD No. 1 decided in November to terminate their contract with SMHCEMS early, with an original termination date being in May 2025.
Luddy said the decision to split from the SMHCEMS private company came from factors such as leadership and staffing issues.
Management from former SMHCEMS Chief David Smith “led us to have concerns about the leadership and stability of the organization,” Luddy said.
Over 90% of SMHCEMS staff, including field and administrative staff, signed a vote of no-confidence against Smith in late 2024, citing alleged issues such as lack of communication and handling of disciplinary proceedings. He later resigned.
Smith now serves as the district administrator for Emergency Service District No. 9, which operates in Kyle and unincorporated San Marcos. ESD No. 9 holds a seat on the SMHCEMS board, currently held by board President Diane Hervol.
Luddy said SMHCEMS had failed to adequately staff two of their ambulances in fiscal year 2023-2024 and current FY 2024-25. From Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024, there were 222 hours when the ambulances were not staffed, he said. From the current fiscal year starting Oct. 1, 2024, there have been 216 unstaffed hours.
Rosales said that because North Hays operates on 12-hour shifts, SMHCEMS would not be able to keep an employee from a previous shift to cover that unit if someone were to call out of work.
“When we cannot hold somebody to work that, then the unit is not staffed,” she said. “We cannot force employees to come to work when they are not scheduled to work.”
One of the supervisor vehicles used in the North Hays district also faced staffing shortages, Luddy said, with the shortage causing the vehicle to go out of service beginning Feb. 1. Rosales said staffing this vehicle is not part of the contract as it is an additional vehicle and not an ambulance.
Luddy said the North Hays board wanted taxpayer dollars to go back into ESD No. 1, rather than going to SMHCEMS.
Both property and sales tax revenue streams from North Hays are paid to SMHCEMS, with a portion going back to operations in North Hays and a separate portion going to SMHCEMS expenses, Rosales said. SMHCEMS oversees multiple emergency service districts, which also pay part of the overhead expenses.
Other revenue streams include patient transports.
What’s next
Luddy said he hopes to expand services in the north Hays County area, including having additional ambulances in the near future. He also hopes to have additional staff to provide more coverage and hold more community engagement events.
He said does not anticipate the additional expenses will negatively impact the EMS budget.
North Hays EMS staff will continue to monitor response metrics to track if the new service is going successfully.
