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Alleghany County hears plan to raise EMS pay, change shifts to fill paramedic vacancies
Summary
David Spicer, the county's senior operations manager, asked commissioners to consider a shift change and a modest pay increase to recruit paramedics; he estimated four vacancies and an approximate $150,000 budget impact next year, and commissioners urged using contracts to secure new hires.
David Spicer, identified in the meeting as senior operations manager and project manager, told Alleghany County commissioners on March 2 that the county is short several paramedics and needs to change pay and schedules to retain and recruit staff. "We have had 4 positions that's been open since last September," Spicer said, and outlined a proposal to alter work schedules and increase base pay to attract applicants.
Spicer described the recruitment proposal in the meeting as a shift change and a modest pay bump. In his remarks he said the county should "go to a 20 4 70 2 shift" and indicated a pay adjustment "from 2,448 to 2,472," along with a further reference to a $24.72 rate; he also said he had verbal commitments from at least five people who said "if we go to the $24.72, then they would come to work for me." Spicer warned that the change will have a budget impact and said the current year's budget could absorb the start-up costs but that next year's budget would need to incorporate the new base pay.
Commissioners pressed Spicer on retention terms. One commissioner asked whether the county could require a written commitment; Spicer and commissioners discussed offering a two-year commitment from newly trained paramedics, and one commissioner said requiring a two-year contract would "be a grand idea." Spicer agreed that offering a contract could secure a commitment.
Spicer offered a rough estimate of the fiscal impact: "I think it'll be somewhere around 150,000," he said when asked about the total impact on next year’s budget.
No formal vote on the pay or shift changes occurred during the meeting. Commissioners expressed broad support for examining the change, with multiple members calling the shortage a pressing public-safety issue and urging staff to return with precise figures, written contract language for retention and a clearer budget estimate for inclusion in next year's budget.
Clarifying details from the transcript: Spicer gave several numerical figures in rapid sequence that are ambiguous in the record (transcribed as "2,448 to 2,472" and references to "$24.72" and other hourly figures). The board asked for documentation (pay projections, recruitment commitments and contract terms) and for staff to include the anticipated recurring cost in next year’s budget. The county did not adopt the proposal at this meeting; commissioners directed staff to prepare formal estimates and contract language for a future meeting.
