By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
The Ellis County Commission approved the hiring of Kim Reel as the new county health director and Danita Schroeder and director of Emergency Medical Services at Monday’s commission meeting.
Both served as the interim department heads after the resignation of Jason Kennedy in November and interviewed for the respective positions last week.
Reel began working as a registered nurse at the health department in June 2020 and was promoted to clinic coordinator a year later.
“Jason recognized her ability to lead and run the operations for the clinic side,” said County Administrator Darin Myers.
Reel said Monday, “I appreciate the opportunity to serve Ellis County, (and) I look forward to the position.”
Schroeder has served as a paramedic with Ellis County since 1999 and moved up the ranks until her appointment to assistant EMS director in August 2020.
“She’s excited to take Ellis County EMS into the future and she’s got some ideas to help with the training of the new EMT program and the protocols," Myers said.
“I’m excited to move into this position,” Schroeder said. “I look forward to keeping our emergency medical services going for our citizens in Ellis County.”
Monday’s appointments and changes in structure return the EMS and Health Department to two separate departments.
In 2016, the Ellis County commission, given budget constraints, elected to combine the two departments under the leadership of then-EMS Director Kerry McCue.
After serving in the position for three years, McCue retired and Kennedy was hired to fill the position.
At Monday’s meeting, both Administrator Myers and commission Chair Butch Schlyer said having one person lead both departments didn’t work.
“Both Kerry McCue and Jason Kennedy suggested that we make this change and bring out the health department out into its own individual department so they can function more efficiently and be focused on one individual department and not two,” Myers said.
Schlyer, who previously served as the head of the health department, added, “When Director McCue was managing both systems, he expressed several times it just wasn’t working well, even when times were good. James expressed the same thing and then, when times were bad, it just really got bad.”
As a result of Monday’s moves, the county will begin accepting applications for the assistant EMS director position.
The health department has already been advertising a registered nurse position and an administrative assistant position.