Supervisors move Dinwiddie to front of ambulance service

LEE COUNTY -  Current Lee County Ambulance Director of Operations, and current Lee County Emergency Management Coordinator Jason Dinwiddie was installed as the new Director of the ambulance service by Lee County Supervisors today in a special meeting.

Dinwiddie will take over the position on a temporary basis until a full-time replacement is found.

County officials have begun advertising the position and are accepting applications until Nov. 4.

Dinwiddie replaces Dennis Cosby who resigned unexpectedly Monday afternoon with no notice to supervisors.

Supervisors voted unanimously to officially accept Cosby's resignation at Tuesday's meeting.

Cosby was installed as the Director in July of 2021 when the county purchased the ambulance service from the Young family after financial woes incumbered the private service.

The county was subsidizing the service at close to one million dollars in 2020 before deciding to purchase the service and run it publicly.

Staffing woes pinched operations early in the county's ownership, but in recent months the county has stepped up with incentive packages, including sign-on bonuses and paid training to attract more employees.

In September Blessing Hospital announced it's closure in Keokuk further straining the service's resources, but supervisors pushed forward commiting to hiring nine additional staff and purchasing property in Keokuk to hold two ambulances and staff to handle the additional demand of the Blessing closure, which included the Emergency Department.

Dinwiiddie said Monday that he wouldn't be able to be the director and County EMA coordinator at the same time permanently, but could do it in the interim.

Supervisor Chairman Matt Pflug said he spoke with Dinwiddie who said he was happy to fill in in the interim.

Supervisor Garry Seyb said the county would make every effort to get the replacement process started as soon as possible.

Supervisor Ron Fedler said the county was actually lucky to have someone like Dinwiddie in place to step in and help during the hiring process.