TCFD Makes Progress Toward Ambulance Expansion, But Staffing Remains Challenge

The Traverse City Fire Department (TCFD) is making “steady progress” toward becoming the city’s primary ambulance provider, but national staffing shortages have made the transition “slower than what we anticipated,” Chief Jim Tuller told city commissioners Monday. The department still needs to fill eight positions before launching the new service, meaning a targeted July start is likely to be pushed back.

Staff presented commissioners with an update on plans to expand the department after voters approved a 20-year, 1-mill millage in 2023 to fund TCFD taking over primary EMS transport services. TCFD deployed a new ambulance last spring and had a second ambulance delivered this fall, which could be ready for service by early summer.

But along with new equipment, TCFD also needs to significantly expand staffing to become the city’s primary provider. The department hired a new EMS administrator last year, Kathryn Dunklow, who appeared before the commission Monday. But while the department is budgeted for “36 full-time employees, which includes command and administrative roles,” according to City Manager Benjamin Marentette, TCFD currently only has 16 firefighter paramedics and 6 firefighter EMTs on staff.

“We have eight positions which we need to fill,” Marentette tells The Ticker. “Some will have paramedic licenses, and some will have EMT certification upon hire. Of the eight positions we need to fill in order to launch the EMS primary transport service, we have three candidates currently in the selection process. If those three candidates fully check out, we will need five more.”

Dunklow said TCFD would have to “immediately hire” those positions to be ready for a July launch. “If we don’t get the staffing that we need, we’re not going to be able to make this happen safely or effectively…we're really hobbled by the lack of staffing at this point,” she said. The city will continue to contract with Mobile Medical Response (MMR) for services in the meantime, so there “will be no lapse in services at any point,” Dunklow emphasized. Still, the slow rate of new hires could mean the service launch is delayed by a quarter or two, Tuller told commissioners.

“The challenges we’re having locally with staffing is not just Traverse City,” he said. “It’s everywhere.” In response to a concern from Commissioner Heather Shaw about Tuller himself retiring this spring, with her calling it a “big lift” to find his replacement, Tuller said he’s “responsible for succession planning and making sure that the city fire machine rolls along whether I'm there or not.”

While Traverse City is an attractive area for recruiting candidates, “people still of course need to be paid a working wage and be able to afford to be here and raise their families,” Tuller said. Both he and Marentette said new collective bargaining agreements for firefighters approved by commissioners in December have provided a meaningful boost in recruiting employees. “That’s when our phone started ringing, and that’s what it takes,” Tuller said.

The new agreements set the top firefighter paramedic rate at nearly $77,000 compared to just over $61,000 previously. Holidays, long-term disability benefits, residency stipends, education reimbursement, acting officer pay, pension contributions, and more were improved under the new contracts. Total wage costs increased by nearly $400,000, while estimated benefit increases are $35,000-$40,000 over the previous contract.

“These adjustments bring fire wages and benefits into alignment with other city bargaining units and ensure competitive market positioning,” City Human Resources Director Kristine Bosley previously told commissioners. Marentette said TCFD candidates currently under consideration include individuals who if hired would relocate from Texas and North Carolina. The new compensation package allows the city “to be an attractive employer, (which) is essential for us being able to provide these kinds of services,” Marentette said.

While hiring at the current rate of one to two employees at a time isn’t ideal for a rapid staff increase, Tuller said he felt fortunate that “the people that we're getting...are outstanding people. That’s what’s going to get us there at the end of the day: people that want to be here for 20, 25 years.” Particularly with a handful of TCFD retirements looming, the chief said the department has “one shot” to properly staff up for its expansion into ambulance services. “We’re always going to have to be cognizant of how we can attract people, and we're working hard on that,” he said.

Photo credit: Traverse City Fire Department