ESD 11 serves approximately 700,000 Harris County residents in Spring and parts of the Tomball and Humble communities. ESD 11’s 911 communication center is ACE-accredited by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch, and the district receives over 65,000 calls per year, according to officials.
Anderson has been working in EMS since 2003, and joined ESD 11 in 2021; he previously worked as a paramedic and held various leadership positions for the Montgomery County Hospital District, and he served as CEO for Sterling EMS in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Community Impact spoke with Anderson about his first few months in the new position.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Walk through some of your career highlights at ESD 11.
I started as clinical practice manager, held that role, held the chief quality officer role, but up until my CEO role, my job was really focused on making sure we provided excellent medical care. I was here before [ESD 11 Mobile Healthcare] started, which allowed me to set up our Quality Assurance Program, so that’s definitely a program I’m proud of. It’s important that any EMS agency ensures they’re providing excellent care to the patients.
What are the responsibilities of the CEO of an emergency service district?
Very simply, our task is to handle a 911 medical call. As CEO, my job is to ensure we’re providing an appropriate, timely response, the appropriate care, [and] that we’re compliant with all state regulations.
Why should residents be paying attention to what their ESD does?
Our ESD formed because there was a lack of funding for EMS coverage. In another district, in another area of Houston, an ESD could be formed for fire services. So it is confusing. You’d have to look at your own tax statement to know where you fall. We were formed in 2004 for emergency medical services ... I wasn’t here then, but as I understand it, it was just the extreme growth this area was going through at the time. Obviously, with more people, there comes more 911 calls, and you need more ambulances and staffing.
What are your priorities as CEO of ESD 11?
I wanted to be very employee-focused, so my goal has been for us to be the best place for an EMT or a paramedic to work. I sent a survey out with an extensive list of questions to try and hone in on what we should do. What I’ve done, as a result, is provided mental health services for our providers, so we have licensed therapists available to support our providers and everything they go through.
I’ve done schedule changes to make sure they have a better work-life balance. There was a significant percentage of people that weren’t working a schedule that worked well for their life, so we were able to change that. I’m also excited that we [added] two 24-hour stations, which brings us to 12 24-hour stations in the area ... If you ask about priorities, it really is to focus on the employees that work here with the understanding that’s going to translate to our providers being in a good headspace to provide excellent medical care to the person that calls 911.
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced so far in this role?
The challenge has really been [that] 911 calls aren’t evenly spread out throughout the day, and most providers want to work normal [9-5] hours. The challenge is coming up with schedules that align where we need ambulances to respond to calls and matching those with people that want to work it, that match their life. We did the schedule changes [and] added those two 24-hour trucks, and that has made those two things fit a lot better ...The busiest time for an ambulance is 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
How did your leadership role as CEO at Sterling EMS set you up for success at ESD 11?
Perfectly well, because we all have the exact same problem and goals. You want to improve the quality, you want to improve the patient experience, and you need to do it for less money. Those were the goals we had at Sterling and the goals we have here, and it’s never-ending. It’s unsolvable, but it’s also fun trying to solve it at the same time.
What makes ESD 11 unique from other ESDs in the Greater Houston area?
[We have] a big advantage of being able to really efficiently utilize resources and spread ambulances out over the area. When you have smaller agencies kind of lumped together, you might not always be getting the closest ambulance because of the territorial line in between. When you’re in a big area, you really have the advantage of getting to the right resource, and then we’re able to communicate with other ambulances in the area. We have hospitals that can take care of any condition in our area. Those are pretty unique factors.
