Starke County will soon have a new EMS director. The county commissioners last night accepted Paul Matthewson’s resignation from that job, effective July 1st. He plans to remain with the county as a part-time paramedic.
As a result of his resignation, the county’s plans to expand advanced life support service are on hold. The Knox EMS base has ALS, which means they have paramedics on duty around the clock and are equipped to handle patient transfers from IU Health Starke Hospital to other facilities. The county has discussed adding ALS to the North Judson and possibly the Grovertown bases to ensure the county is covered should a patient need to be transferred. This would be done by adding part-time paramedics. County council president Dave Pearman, auditor Kay Chaffins and Matthewson have been crunching numbers to determine whether the county will be able to sustain the additional cost. The commissioners plan to advertise the opening but did not indicate a time frame in which it may be filled.
