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Hennepin Co. paramedics vote no confidence in EMS chief
Hennepin County paramedics have voted no confidence in their EMS chief due to staffing concerns. FOX 9 Investigator Paul Blume has the story.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Hennepin County’s paramedics and EMTs are demanding new leadership after an overwhelming vote of no confidence in their department chief. The vote comes after the FOX 9 Investigators exposed chronic staffing shortages that have stressed and demoralized the rank-and-file emergency responders.
Union calls for new EMS chief after no-confidence vote
What we know:
The Hennepin County Association of Paramedics and EMTs (HCAPE) overwhelmingly voted no confidence in department Chief Marty Scheerer.
The union says more than 70% of its members cast a ballot, with 140 out of 147 members voting no.
"The bottom-line message is we want a new chief in EMS," said HCAPE President Shane Hallow, who believes it is the first vote of no-confidence in the union’s history.
The union sent a letter to Hennepin Healthcare administrators and county board members demanding Chief Scheerer’s removal last month.
"We feel strongly, and our members feel strongly that a change in that top-level leadership will bring a change within the department to pivot us in the right direction," said Hallow.
The letter warned that a lack of confidence in leadership could impact employee retention, system performance and patient care outcomes.
Hallow said the vote came after months of mounting issues, including toxic leadership and a failure to address chronic staffing shortages.
Staffing challenges and mutual aid
The backstory:
The FOX 9 Investigators recently revealed that the department has struggled to meet minimum staffing standards, with ambulance shifts regularly left understaffed.
READ MORE: Hennepin Co. paramedics warn ‘chronic’ under-staffing creating crisis
In an interview earlier this spring, Scheerer acknowledged there are times when the department falls below minimum staffing.
"Most of the time we are well above our minimum staffing," he said. "But there are certain days where we go below minimum, absolutely and there's certain days when we could double our staffing and still won't be able to go on all the calls."
Scheerer said the system, the busiest in the state, is designed to rely on mutual aid during staffing shortages.
"The system is built to, designed to have the ups and downs of staffing and surging," Scheerer explained at the time.
Scheerer did not respond to FOX 9 Investigators' request for comment on the latest developments.
Hallow accused Scheerer of misrepresenting the impact of staffing shortages within the department.
"What people don't understand about mutual aid is those ambulances are not coming from within our service area. So, if there is a call in Eden Prairie, for example, and a neighboring agency takes that mutual aid, it could be coming from several cities away, it could be coming from 20, 30 minutes away potentially."
Continuously monitoring staffing
What they're saying:
In a statement to the FOX 9 Investigators, Hennepin Healthcare did not directly address Chief Scheerer’s future, though it did say it was listening to the concerns of its emergency responders.
"We continuously monitor staffing needs and adjust deployment in a fluid environment, working with our team members and partners to provide reliable service to the community 24/7," the statement reads. "We are committed to listening to employee concerns and addressing them thoroughly and fairly to create an environment that builds trust and supports the excellent care they deliver to our community."