By Chance Swaim
The Wichita Eagle
(MCT)
A majority of Sedgwick County Commissioners signaled Monday that they will wait for the findings of an audit by a private law firm before taking action on the Sedgwick County EMS crisis outlined in an ongoing Wichita Eagle investigative series.
The decision to wait comes as pressure mounts to fire Sedgwick County EMS Director Dr. John Gallagher. An online petition calling for termination of his contract gathered more than 1,800 signatures in 24 hours. Findings from an audit by Hite, Fanning & Honeyman could be presented to commissioners as early as this week.
The Eagle series — “Unresponsive” — shows Sedgwick County EMS response times have gotten dangerously slow as paramedics flee the department in revolt against Gallagher, causing ambulance shortages for the entire county.
Despite years of warnings, county leaders failed to resolve the conflict, The Eagle found. Now, EMS employees say anything short of Gallagher’s removal would further damage the service.
One commissioner said the series “raises grave concerns” and that Gallagher has misrepresented her support for him. Another complained that the series wasn’t positive enough and expressed concerns that “a personnel issue” has been made public.
Commissioner Jim Howell has been in favor of placing Gallagher on administrative leave for months but has been unable to win support for the idea from County Manager Tom Stolz or the other four commissioners.
Commissioner Lacey Cruse said the Eagle’s report “raises grave concerns about the leadership of Sedgwick County EMS and its effect on response times concerning emergency care for our citizens.”
But she’s waiting for the audit before making any decisions. She said The Eagle’s series and audio recordings from three months ago when dozens of employees asked county leaders to remove Gallagher make it “clearer and clearer every day” that major change is needed.
“Personally, I can’t understand how someone could want to stay,” Cruse said. “That’s a decision that’s up to him, and we’ll have to see what happens.”
Cruse was initially supportive of naming Gallagher EMS director. But she hedged that support in a Sunday post on Facebook.
“When this was presented to me, as a newly elected county commissioner, I trusted the information I was given by management to make the decision,” she said. “I have learned since then that I have to take a much deeper dive into these key issues and am committed to doing so.”
Gallagher told The Eagle in June that he has no plans to resign and that he welcomes the investigation. In a June 12 email to physicians at the Medical Society of Sedgwick County, Gallagher said he’s confident the Eagle’s story’s will blow over because he has support from all of the commissioners but one.
“I want to be very clear: I have never pledged support to him during this investigation,” Cruse said.
In a Facebook post, Commissioner Sarah Lopez said she feels “the urgency of this life or death situation.”
“I also know whatever action we take must be done with due diligence and not compound the problem further,” she said.
“As the proper resolution comes into focus it will call for immediate action.”
Commission Chairman Pete Meitzner said he has a lot to say about The Eagle’s series, but had too many meetings Monday to immediately respond.
Commissioner David Dennis criticized the Eagle’s report for not being positive enough and other commissioners for responding to the series on social media.
“As a Commission, we can either manage through the newspaper and social media, or we can lead,” Dennis said. “We are working hard to get to the facts, then make informed decisions, not govern by Facebook and the Eagle.”
Dennis said he “would have loved to have seen a positive story in the Eagle about the heroic efforts by EMS by stabilizing and transporting the recent fatality so that her unborn child could be saved.”
The Eagle wrote five stories on the tragic accident last week.
Dennis asked whether The Eagle considered the size of Sedgwick County and how long it takes to reach remote rural areas, two variables that have remained nearly unchanged as response times have slowed. He also noted — as does the Eagle series — that EMS has two special units in Clearwater and Cheney to cover urban areas.
Those single-paramedic units can’t transport patients and are on duty only from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. EMS employees have said the units have further complicated a staffing crisis by taking away paramedics who would otherwise be on an ambulance crew.
“For an investigative report, I would have thought you would also research other EMS organizations across the United States,” Dennis said in an email. “Many are also experiencing problems with retention and morale. You also did not mention anything about the impact of COVID on numerous organizations within and outside government.”
During two closed-door meetings in late April, past and present Sedgwick County EMS employees were clear with county leaders that COVID-19 had little bearing on the problems facing the department. Dennis has refused to listen to audio recordings of the meetings because he was not invited to attend.
“I could go on, but I am sure anything I say at this point will be discounted by your thorough, investigative reporting,” Dennis said.
Dennis would not say whether he thinks Gallagher should remain director of EMS.
“That is a personnel issue that should be discussed in executive session,” he said. “We do not try and convict anyone without due process. If other employees felt that we would not honor confidentiality and due process involving personnel issues, it would have a long lasting impact on retention and morale.”
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