The details
Rosales served as interim chief since November. She said she is hoping to address concerns about the sustainability of the company in the wake of North Hays EMS group leaving SMHCEMS.
“There are lots of people who have been here for a long time that feel torn as to whether they wanted to stay here or they wanted to go to North Hays,” she said. “I just want to make sure that people can come to work and then go home and not worry about this place when they leave. I want them to completely check out, go enjoy your family or your dogs or whatever you have that's not here because this place is stable and great. Your next shift will be here when you get back.”
Rosales said she wants to hold more development training to build a strong leadership staff and focus on an “inclusive and collaborative leadership style” her employees can count on.
“Each day that I can come to work and I can prove to my staff that they can trust their leadership staff to have their back and make decisions that don't negatively affect anybody is the way that that's done,” she said.
The Hays County EMS Association, the labor union that represents SMHCEMS field staff, announced their recommendation for Rosales as chief at the March 17 board meeting.
Rosales has been with the company for about 17 years, she said, graduating through the ranks from an EMT-Basic up to assistant chief, interim chief and now official chief of the company.
She also had a brief stint working in the billing office and recently completed her business degree at St. Andrew’s University, which she said gives her the insight needed for the business management of SMHCEMS.
She will begin a master’s in public administration from Texas Tech University in June.
The context
Rosales became assistant chief on Sept. 9. Later, at a Nov. 18 board meeting, Rosales was appointed as interim chief after the announcement of former chief David Smith’s resignation was made public. The resignation came a few months after a vote of no confidence from field and administrative staff was presented at a board meeting Sept. 23.
Smith was with the SMHCEMS company until late 2024. He now serves as district administrator for Emergency Service District No. 9, which covers Kyle and unincorporated San Marcos. ESD No. 9 has a board seat on the SMHCEMS board, with Diane Hervol as newly elected president of the company.
Since Smith’s departure, Rosales has served as interim chief of SMHCEMS.
What else
Rosales said that while she will focus on improving business management of the company, she wants to focus on the health and wellness of her staff.
“My focus is my field staff because our focus is the community,” she said. “If I'm not focusing on the people who are running calls and helping them find some job satisfaction, then we could potentially have a patient care issue. Building them up and making them proud of this job is inevitably going to pay off in exceptional patient care.”
