During the only meeting in December, council voted to create a new city department—the Office of Medical Director.
In addition, council voted on a resolution to have the city manager’s office direct the day-to-day operations during a transition period and created two advisory boards related to the ambulance services.
Zooming in
The Office of Medical Director will report to the city manager and will provide independent medical direction and oversight of the Fort Worth emergency medical services systems through July 1, according to city documents. After July 1, the Fort Worth fire chief will be responsible for direct management and day-to-day operations of the EMS system.
The current Office of Medical Director for MedStar oversees police and fire departments for 14 communities or cities, including Fort Worth, according to its website.
The city manager’s office will approve new contracts or amendments to existing contracts that exceed $100,000, and council waives any requirement for those contracts to be presented to or approved by council, per city documents.
A closer look
The two advisory boards that were created are the First Responder Advisory Board and the Emergency Physicians Advisory Board.
Members of the First Responder board are:
- Blue Mound Fire Chief Jason Wood
- Edgecliff Village Fire Chief Jeffrey Ballew
- Forest Hill Fire Chief Steve Gutierrez
- Fort Worth Fire Chief Jim Davis
- Dr. Jeffrey Jarvis, Fort Worth medical director
- Haltom City Fire Chief Brian Jacobs
- Haslet Fire Chief Kirt Mays
- Lake Worth Fire Chief Ryan Arthur
- Lakeside City Administrator Norman Craven
- Richland Hills Fire Chief Russell Shelley
- Saginaw Fire Chief Doug Spears
- Sansom Park Fire Chief Dave Lincoln
- Westover Hills Sgt. Aaron Sheehan
- Westworth Village City Administrator Brandy Barrett
- White Settlement Fire Chief Rick Sanderson.
The Emergency Physician board includes:
- Dr. Michael Flores (Baylor All Saints)
- Dr. Daniel G. Guzman (Cook’s Children)
- Dr. Jessica J. Kirby (JPS Health Network)
- Dr. Sam Matthews (Medical City Alliance)
- Dr. Alana Snyder (Medical City Fort Worth)
- Dr. Brad Commons (THR Alliance)
- Dr. Terrance McCarthy (THR Fort Worth)
- Dr. Michelle Beeson (THR Southwest)
- Dr. Sam Haraldson (THR Hughley).
The background
Fort Worth City Council members approved a memorandum of understanding between the city and MedStar member cities to remove itself from the interlocal agreement on May 21.
The vote started the process to dissolve MedStar, the ambulance service that handled EMS calls in Fort Worth and 13 other cities and communities.
According to its website, the Metropolitan Area Emergency Service Authority was created by the city of Fort Worth in 1986. In 2005, interlocal agreements were reached with nearby towns to provide services outside city limits.
MedStar covers 436 square miles in Tarrant County with a fleet of 65 ambulances, according to its website.
