In an effort to build inroads with the Harrison Town Council and strengthen its relationship with the community, the Harrison EMS board has appointed Eric Singer as its first ever executive director.
Singer will operate as the top administrator in emergency services, in charge of personnel management, financial oversight and community outreach; although he said he will not have sole authority over decisions made in the department.
Cindy Mercado, a former lieutenant of the EMS corps, was appointed as director of the department, and Hector Fuentes, who also served as lieutenant of the department until earlier this month, has now been named assistant director. Both former lieutenants are paramedics, the highest certified level of emergency service provider outside of a hospital.
Singer has never been an administrator at Harrison EMS, but he is captain of the volunteer department in the town of Cortlandt, where he has volunteered as an EMT for 15 years. He said he will continue to volunteer as the captain in Cortlandt while working full time as the executive director of Harrison EMS.
The EMS board appointed Singer earlier this month after interviewing several candidates.
Before the EMS was restructured, the chief was the top administrative position. Now, that position has been dissolved. Singer said that having a group of directors rather than one individual will allow the corps to operate more efficiently. “This is a 24/7 operation,” he said. “You can’t do this with one person in charge.”
Singer’s approach to running the EMS corps will rely heavily on community outreach. EMS plans to offer free Heartsaver CPR courses to groups in the town such as churches, Girl Scouts and teachers. “We’re definitely going more into community outreach programs, which can be CPR training or callbacks to our previous patients to make sure they’re OK,” he said.
The executive director added that he plans to donate defibrillators to groups such as churches. Community outreach, Singer said, is essential to his administration as the captain of Cortlandt’s EMS corps.
To advance his community outreach initiative, Singer has appointed Ron Benson, an EMT, as the corps’ public information officer. Benson will be in charge of managing press releases, social media pages and the corps’ website.
The EMS corps will also continue working to mend relationships with the town board.
Harrison EMS is a nonprofit organization funded partially by donations and partially by a stipend from the town. The town board continues to give EMS a $45,833 stipend on a month-to-month basis, although EMS officials have said they are working on earning a contract from the town, which would grant EMS a quarterly $137,500 stipend. The corps was paid on a quarterly basis until April.
In March, before Singer was the head of the department, EMS said they would have to discontinue services in the following month because they had not received payment from the town. In response, Mayor Ron Belmont, a Republican, released a list of 17 grievances against EMS, most of which referred to mismanagement by the EMS board and then-chief Joe Bilotto.
Bilotto, who worked for the department for 23 years and served as chief until the restructuring, resigned this month.
However, it is not clear if or when the town board will enter into a new contract with EMS. Last month, the Review reported that Harrison officials were considering joining a consortium with the Port Chester-Rye Brook-Rye Brook EMS or the Mamaroneck EMS district. Belmont said that option has not yet been ruled out.
EMS officials said they hoped the new administrative structure would help persuade town officials to agree to a contract.
“It is a positive step.” Belmont told the Review. “They’re moving in the right direction for sure. They had some issues trying to right the ship for a while, but now I think they’re moving full speed ahead.”
