EMS agency urged to raise pay

Higher wages key in recruiting, retention, officials contend

FAYETTEVILLE — Central EMS officials want a 2018 budget that recruits and retains emergency workers for the Northwest Arkansas agency.

The key is to pay employees a competitive rate and reduce their heavy workload, Assistant Chief Steve Harrison said.

“It’s kind of a balancing act,” he said.

The Washington County Regional Ambulance Authority placed employee retention and recruitment as its No. 1 priority during a meeting in September. The Executive Committee agreed, but some members differ on whether to emphasize pay raises or workload reduction by hiring more employees.

“I don’t want to wear them out,” committee member Glenn Morgan said.

The number of emergency calls has grown — meaning more work for less pay than some other agencies, Chief Becky Stewart said.

Call volume at Central EMS went up nearly 4 percent from 2014 to 2015 and 12 percent last year. That large increase mostly occurred because service was expanded into areas Springdale emergency workers stopped serving, but it’s also linked to a growing and aging population, Stewart said.

Call volume is expected to rise about to 14,518 calls next year, about a 2 percent increase over this year.

Employees go to about six calls per 12-hour shift, a higher amount than many similar ambulance services, Stewart said. Turnover at the ambulance service is running about 17 percent this year, Harrison said.

Expenditures this year are about $100,000 over budget, mostly because of overtime costs, Central EMS officials said.

The workload could be eased by adding an ambulance and hiring about nine emergency technicians, six paramedics, one mechanic and one patient account representative, according to the 2018 budget proposal. The changes would be part of expenditures pushing the budget to $12 million, up from $11.4 million this year.

Pay at Central EMS lags about 6 percent behind the market on average, according to a report released this month by the Johanson Group, a management consulting agency.

Central EMS competes with fire departments, hospitals and private ambulance services for emergency medical technicians and paramedics. Those agencies often pay more, according to the report.

An emergency technician position at Central EMS starts at $30,206, compared with $44,038 in Springdale, the report shows. A paramedic starts at $44,537 at Central EMS and $50,043 in Springdale.

On top of that, to train a medical technician to become a paramedic costs Central EMS about $85,000, Stewart said.

The proposed budget includes a 6 percent merit raise and a salary range ad- justment, accounting for a $600,000 increase in wages next year.

Even with that, Central EMS will continue to be behind, employee management consultant Blair Johanson said during a committee meeting this month.

Central EMS emergency workers are meeting response-time goals, David Dayringer, executive committee chairman and Fayetteville Fire Department chief, said in email. Central EMS could postpone the new ambulance and staff additions, and instead funnel money to more pay, he said.