South County EMS Board Opens Chief Search
Other Committee · Meeting of April 7, 2026
DEERFIELD — South County EMS board launches chief search as Deerfield's administrative costs jump 30 percent. The regional board, which oversees ambulance service for Deerfield, Sunderland and Whately, learned its chief will leave June 22 and began reviving a 2023-style screening committee process. Josh, presenting Deerfield Town Accountant Holly's spreadsheet, attributed the 30 percent cost increase to a $400,000 ambulance purchase and a drop in Deerfield's overall budget after a one-time $4 million CPA outlay rolled off.
Members want the cost formula, currently informal, written into the service's inter-municipal agreement. The board also reviewed draft agreements raising a Hatfield paramedic intercept fee from $300 to $350, with Hatfield Fire Chief Flaherty signaling the town's support, and learned employee Morgan Barrett is leaving full-time status for nursing school. "We've had turnover in administrators in all three towns, so there's no institutional memory," one member said.
In the full story:
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Source: the Other Committee meeting of April 7, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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