Austin/Travis County (TX) Search for new Medical Director

[Dragoon]

Lawn Guyland

Now just say it as one word.

[CBEMT]

It was Marino I missed, since I don't know much about that system. All I knew is that there were two candidates from obvious fire-based systems and the rest weren't.

[bigj1130]

I will be going to the panel discussion on the 28th to meet these 6 physicians and see what potential path my career might take. I say 6 because I have not met Dr. Kempema as of yet. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing. I hope Our penny pinching city Manager allows for a little more inoput than just him and the Good Judge but we shall see.

[Dustdevil]

Thanks for the update, J-man. A lot of people are anxious to see how this plays out.

[croaker260]

Thanks for the update, J-man. A lot of people are anxious to see how this plays out.

Agreed

[bigj1130]

Well I just got back from the panel discussions. We were able to meet the final three candidates and they are; Dr. Hinchey From WCEMS, Dr. Freese From FDNY, and Dr. Locasto from Cincinatti. They were given 3 minutes to introduce themselves, we had 25 minutes of Q&A, then they were able to make a quick summation. All in all about a half an hour per candidate.In my opinion, I think the FD and county ESD's will recommend Freese, He seems the most Fire oriented. I think the EMS contigent will recommend Dr. Hinchey because he is the most pro EMS and because of his vision for the delivery of EMS well into the Future. Dr. Locasto is kinda a dark horse to me, He may be the most balanced candidate having to deal with what he has in Cincinatti. All three are very bright men and have a good vision for healthcare delivery in Austin and Travis County. Locasto and Hinchey are very pro public health, i.e. advanced practice paramedics, PAs or Nurse Practicioners that can bring healthcare to the masses better than living room to ED, and they want to make us better.

One of the good things I really liked about Dr. Freese is that he still wants to practice medicine, Hinchey as well. They want to be in the EDs when we deliver patients so they can see what it is we do. I didn't really get that vibe from Locasto, though it was not directly asked of him. I don't feel we got lip service from any of the three.

My thoughts are Hinchey, Locasto then Freese. I think Hinchey wants to do the most for EMS and public health. Locasto about the same my only concern with Dr. Locasto is That we might be too big too soon for him. I only rank Dr. Freese third because our system is very much not FDNY. I am not knocking FDNY ems or NYC EMS at all. Dr. Freese is just used to a lot of On-line things and our system is very much not an On-line system, for better or worse. Either of these three doctors will be good medical directors for any system. Hopefully they fit well for us and can lead us for many years to come and put us back at the forefront of prehospital medicine.

[Dustdevil]

Wow, J! Thanks a lot for the insight! It's great to have someone on the inside giving us the scoop! Seems like we are thinking along the same lines on this. And I share your hopes that whoever it is will continue to keep ATCEMS at the forefront, and on a progressive path.

[FireMedic65]

Lets hope whomever it is, sets a great example for other medical directors to follow!

[bigj1130]

Announced today that The City Of Austin/ County of Travis EMS system has named Dr. Paul Hinchey of Wake County EMS as our new Medical Director. No Info as to his start date yet.

[Dustdevil]

You beat me to it! Congratulations on your new director!

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/sha...cials_name.html

City and County officials name new EMS director

By Isadora Vail | Friday, June 5, 2009, 10:43 AM

City and county officials today named Dr. Paul Hinchey as the new medical director for the Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Systems.

City Manager Marc Ott and Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe announced the hiring of Hinchey, who was the deputy medical director of Wake County EMS in Raleigh, N.C.

Hinchey fills the director’s vacancy created when Dr. Edward Racht left the position in November 2008.

Hinchey has also served as medical director of WakeMed Mobile Critical Care Air and Ground Services, WakeMed Emergency Services Institute Special Operations and WakeMed Health Hospitals. He was medical director of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians.

Hinchey is board certified in emergency medicine and received a doctor of medicine degree and an MBA from the State University of New York-Buffalo in 2002.