CARROLL COUNTY, Tenn. — First responders, commissioners, and ambulance officials packed the Carroll County Office Complex Monday night for the most heavily attended commission meeting in at least eight years, all focused on one issue: ambulance service.
McKenzie Police Chief Ryan White told commissioners he watched an injured woman lie on the side of the road for 48 minutes.
McKenzie Fire Chief Brian Tucker, who has served 31 years with the department, said slow response times have plagued the city since the McKenzie hospital closed in 2018.
Commissioner and former Huntingdon Public Safety Director Walter Smothers said he spent years making complaints to Baptist and Priority that led to promises and no follow-through.
“The next day was back to business as usual,” Smothers said.
Priority Ambulance’s regional president, Reg James, told the room that the company would form an oversight committee with local officials and first responders to set goals and build accountability into the system
Kevin Redd, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Carroll County’s new chief administrative officer, reaffirmed Baptist’s commitment to the county and to Priority as its partner.
County Mayor Joseph Butler said an oversight committee will begin meeting as early as next Wednesday.
“That’s not Priority’s committee. That’s our committee,” Butler said. “They get to be a part of it.”
Full story to follow.