VEMS Board Needs Shakeup, Lawyer’s Review Concludes

Valley Emergency Medical Services (VEMS) should reorganize its board of directors to prevent conflicts of interest, a lawyer commissioned by local officials to review the organization concluded.

Leaders from the regional paramedic service said Tuesday the recommendation is already being taken into consideration.

In fact, Robert Pettinella, the group’s executive director, said an out-of-state highway accident last year that prompted the increased scrutiny was the best thing that could have happened.

I don’t want to be called out on something that’s wrong. If it’s wrong, it’s wrong,” Pettinella said.

It was the perfect thing that I needed to say I don’t operate this way,’” he said about the crash.

The accident occurred while the vehicle was being used on a personal trip, which raised eyebrows with some Valley leaders -— Derby Mayor Anthony Staffieri specifically. VEMS officials had said the vehicle was new and needed to accumulate mileage before being put into use.

Staffieri has questioned whether the organization’s board of directors is accountable to the towns served by the organization.

Valley COG —- made up of the top elected officials from Ansonia, Derby, Seymour and Shelton —- asked Welch in March to review VEMS’ policies and procedures to see whether the structure of the organization could be improved.

On Tuesday Welch presented Valley officials with a draft summary of the report. The leaders would not release it to the public, saying a final version would be delivered by the end of the month.

Much of what Welch said Tuesday was taken from two earlier reviews of the organization that he had been provided — one in 1995 and and another in 2004.

He said the 2004 report — which was also commissioned by VCOG — concluded that the VEMS was only able to operate through the Herculean efforts of its board members.”

Welch said the group’s board is made up of up to 13 board members:

  • Five appointed by the chief elected officials of the towns providing subsidies to VEMS,
  • Five from the ambulance companies of participating towns
  • Griffin Hospital’s chairman of emergency services
  • A member appointed by Griffin Hospital’s president
  • And a member appointed through the Valley Chamber of Commerce

The lawyer pointed to the earlier studies which called into question the independent agendas” of those board members and said changing the composition of the board may make sense to prevent conflicts of interest.

There is a basic lack of cooperative relationships required for a regional organization to be successful,” Welch said, quoting from the 2004 report.

The present competitive nature of the participating services continues to contribute to the shortcomings of VEMS,” Welch went on. While competition is a positive attribute for the services at this point, it is not a positive attribute for VEMS.”

Click the play button below to see more of Welch’s comments. Article continues after the video.

Welch also said the group should change its bylaws to reflect the fact that Pettinella runs VEMS day to day, not its president.

He pointed to area groups like the Valley Community Foundation, the Valley United Way, and the Shelton Economic Development Corporation as good examples of how to set up rules governing a nonprofit.

Welch also noted that VEMS has changed two of its policies in the past year.

The first mandates that board members disclose any interests they or family members have in companies or organizations competing or doing business with VEMS. The second bars VEMS vehicles from personal use.

Immediately after Welch delivered his summary, Staffieri asked for time to digest” the information, and that it be put on the Valley COGs next meeting agenda.

It will be, but officials still discussed the report and its recommendations for about 20 minutes Tuesday.

Click the play button on the video at the top of the story to see some of the discussion.

Seymour First Selectman Kurt Miller asked Welch if he thought VEMS is evolving fast enough.”

I think it’s a continual process,” Welch replied, noting that the previous reviews he came across each resulted in the group making changes to the way it operates.

The greatest change that one would see is probably over the last five or six years with the hiring of an executive director,” Welch said, adding that doing so helped the group become more like a standard nonprofit corporation.”

During the meeting Pettinella said he agreed the board of directors needs a shakeup.

As an executive director, I have to deal with the task of somehow answering to a board of directors that ultimately I’m competing with,” Pettinella said. It’s like I run Oxford Lumber but I’m reporting to a board of directors who is the CEO of Housatonic Lumber, Stevenson Lumber, Home Depot and Lowe’s.”

Historically, the decisions that the board makes are not always in favor of VEMS because it would impact those very services that have a seat on our board,” Pettinella went on. So I think a restructuring of the board does need to happen.”

Afterward, he and VEMS President Shannon McDaniel said changes are in the works.

I’m happy with it,” Pettinella said of Welch’s review. There’s nothing unexpected. We do business on the up and up, so certainly there’s no secrets.”

The board’s open to doing what’s best for everybody to work together to provide the best service that we can,” McDaniel said.

She said VEMS has drafted bylaws that would put in place some of the changes” suggested by Welch’s review, including restructuring the board to remove potential conflicts of interest.

McDaniel said further details had not yet been hashed out. It’s still in the working stages at this point.”

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