EMS partnership dissolved amid squabbling, allegations

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EMS partnership dissolved amid squabbling, allegations

Criminal probe sought amid firms' bitter breakup in Medina County.

By Zeke MacCormack

zeke@...

Updated 11:27 p.m., Wednesday, June 22, 2011 The joint venture between two

private ambulance services that together functioned as Medina County EMS has

come to a bitter end, terminated amid personality conflicts, unpaid tax bills

and allegations of missing money.

A criminal probe is being sought, and the former partners are sounding like

future competitors.

Police were called to Friday's emergency meeting of the Community EMS board,

which voted to terminate its 2009 partnership with Medina Valley EMS, under

which they shared resources, employees and a name.

Trespass warnings were issued after the meeting to five Medina Valley EMS

employees over attempts to remove narcotics from Community EMS' ambulances in

what the employees described as an effort to safeguard the drugs, but others saw

as a bid to cripple the service.

Hondo Police Chief ny ez recommended that the reports of missing

Community EMS funds be referred directly to District Attorney Dan Kindred to

preclude any claims of investigative bias, since one of his officers, Larry

Hoffman, is on the Community EMS board.

Kindred has already been contacted, said Community EMS administrator Kerry

Copeland.

Copeland said voiding the contract and other recent board moves were aimed at

preventing a hostile takeover of Community EMS by Mike Farris, its former

operations director, who also is the director of Medina Valley EMS.

“That's simply not true,†said Farris, who resigned his Community EMS post

Friday and intends to vie for the service contract with Medina County Emergency

Services District No. 3 held by Community EMS.

At an emergency meeting Tuesday, the ESD board voted to retain Community EMS

under the contract to cover northern and western Medina County.

“Since the fiasco on Friday night, the current (Community EMS) board and

current director have got a good handle on it,†said Hartnett, board

president for the ESD.

The ambulance service split was preceded by months of upheaval, including the

April 5 resignation of Sherry Trouten, Farris' sister, as administrator of

Community EMS.

Trouten, who couldn't be reached, was earlier suspended with pay over

“accounting inconsistencies,†according to minutes from the Community EMS

board's March 25 meeting, at which Farris was promoted from assistant

administrator to acting administrator.

The board also decided then to bring its office functions back to Hondo after

two years in a consolidated office at Medina Valley EMS in Castroville.

A preliminary review of Community EMS records revealed unauthorized checks had

been cut to administrative personnel, among other problems, according to the

board's March 30 meeting minutes.

Before resigning, records show, Trouten offered to repay $21,352 to Community

EMS that was received in unauthorized travel expenses, pay advances and

duplicate pay. The money was repaid, said Copeland, who received another

unwelcome surprise upon learning that Community EMS owed $45,447 in back taxes.

After Trouten left, he said, workers discovered IRS notices dating to October

about the unpaid debt, which has forced Community EMS to take out a loan.

Copeland said it appears more than $50,000 in Community EMS funds were misspent

or are missing.

“We need an audit,†he said Wednesday.

Trouten, who also works as a coordinator for the ESD No. 3, was told by that

board Tuesday to produce for inspection all ESD property in her possession,

Hartnett said.

She's still business manager at Medina Valley EMS.

Despite the split, ambulances from both services still bear the logo of their

defunct partnership, Medina County EMS.

New decals are on order for Community EMS, but Farris said: “We're not

changing the name.â€

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