The Virginia Beach City Council on Tuesday voted to convert six part-time paramedic positions to two full-time paramedic positions, citing scheduling issues and saying full-time positions would be more beneficial.
Council members passed the ordinance as part of the consent agenda without discussion. However, a document providing background of the issue to City Council members said that the department simply needs more full-time employees.
The Department of Emergency Medical Services previously converted four vacant full-time paramedic positions to 12 part-time ones, the information stated. It was an attempt to increase staffing levels. The department had not previously used part-time personnel for paramedic positions but hoped it would create a flexible option for candidates.
“Staffing is an ongoing challenge for EMS,” the document stated. “The use of part-time paramedics has proven to be less beneficial than the department had hoped.”
The amount of effort, time and resources needed to train paramedics had made it difficult to use these part-time positions, the document continued. The dynamic nature of EMS scheduling was another barrier.
“The department is not meeting daily staffing goals and needs more full-time employees for baseline staffing,” the document said.
The document said the financial impact is limited to the cost of the benefits for the two positions, but these costs can be covered by existing vacancy savings in the EMS budget. It did not provide a dollar amount for the impact.
