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Fort Worth approves new EMS model, impacting over a million North Texans

EMS services will now be administered under the Fort Worth Fire Department. The change will ensure EMS services are fully funded.

FORT WORTH, Texas — The Fort Worth City Council unanimously approved a plan Tuesday to transition emergency medical service providers from MedStar to a Fort Worth Fire Department-based system. 

A committee of council members, city staff, MedStar staff and consultants served on an EMS Ad Hoc Council Committee that recommended the transition to fire department-based emergency services. The committee met over several months and commissioned three studies to arrive at their recommendation. 

"The landscape of EMS Services has changed drastically, it is no longer sustainable," Councilmember Carlos Flores, who chaired the committee, said Tuesday. "I want to commend MedStar, its leadership and its rank and file for doing a tremendous job to date. They have been fighting an uphill battle... We're here to change the system to a sustainable model. 

Fort Worth and 13 surrounding cities will transition away from using MedStar, the city’s current emergency services provider, to a fire-based system that places paramedics under the employment of the Fort Worth Fire Department.

The transition will cost the city, but it will buy residents faster response times, Fort Worth officials say. A study determined that system improvements could cut response times from 13.5 minutes to just an 8-minute travel time for all emergency 911 responses.

Assistant City Manager Valerie Washington said taking responsibility for emergency services will have no impact on the city’s tax rate or the price of ambulance bills. MedStar ended 2022 with over $50 million in total expenditures.

“We'll have to work internally and really determine how we want to handle this expense,” Washington said.

MedStar is a public utility created by Fort Worth and other cities in 1986 to provide emergency services. The organization has struggled in recent years to remain economically viable, as costs increased and between 25-30% of EMS calls don’t result in payment. In 2023, Fort Worth officials began exploring options for a new model. 

For a full list of municipalities impacted by the transition, go here.

Paramedics employed under the new fire-based system will be considered civil service employees. They will be members of the IAFF 440 Fire Union and given additional benefits and protections. 

"I believe that the decision you are about to make is good for the citizens, good for the employees of MedStar and good for the Fort Worth Fire Department." said Michael Glynn, president of IAFF 440. "This is a big change and we're looking forward to it and it will be exciting in the months to come." 

The city and MedStar also intend to hire as many paramedics currently employed by MedStar as possible for the new fire-based system, said Thomas Moore, a junior partner with Fitch and Associates, a firm working to help the city with the transition. 

Now the city and MedStar will begin an over 140-step process to fulfill the transition. The shift will be a dramatic internal change but residents should expect the same level of emergency services they receive today, Washington said. 

"The work is really just getting started," Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said ahead of the vote. "I think council, we're all ready to roll up our sleeves and do the good work to make sure we have the finest first responder system in the entire country." 

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