A/TCEMS Medical Director resigns

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From today's Austin American-Statesman.....

-Wes Ogilvie

Dr. Ed Racht, medical director for Austin/ County Emergency Medical

Services, is resigning from the position, EMS spokesman Warren Hassinger said.

Racht plans to work for a hospital group in Atlanta, Ga. His last day is

November 7th, according to Hassinger.

Racht has been in his current position since 1995 and earns about $210,000 a

year.

Before he came to Austin, he was the associate chief of emergency medicine at

the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond and worked part-time with the

city’s ambulance service.

As part of his position, Racht oversees 2300 employees who provide

pre-hospital care under his license, Hassinger said.

The office of the medical director determines who practices pre-hospital

medicine in County.

He said in a 2003 American-Statesman interview that he discovered his love of

“street medicine†more than a decade ago.

In 2007, his relationship to a San -based company that sold medical

equipment to EMS, Vidacare Corp., was reviewed by the County attorney’s

office. Officials said then that Racht owned about $500 in company stock.

Austin city officials said they found no evidence of a conflict of interest.

Dr.

Larry , Vidacare’s founder and chief medical officer, said he asked

Racht to serve on the company’s advisory board because †Ed is a

well-known,

well-respected EMS director.â€

Hassinger said Racht’s decision to leave the Austin area was based partly on

a “once in a lifetime opportunity.â€

A process for the selection for a new medical director hasn’t yet begun,

Hassinger said.