Government officials advanced plan to merge Fire Service and Health EMS units

The Virgin Islands government said on July 22, 2019, that the Department of Health, the Virgin Islands Fire Service and the Office of the Governor were continuing work on a plan to merge the Health Department’s Emergency Medical Service with the Fire Service to create the Virgin Islands Fire and Emergency Medical Service, or VIFEMS.

According to the administration, an integration project team led by the Office of the Governor met on July 19, 2019, to work on key parts of the plan. The team included representatives from the Department of Health, Fire Service, Division of Personnel and Office of Collective Bargaining.

Officials said the agencies reviewed current processes that could be improved through the merger and identified issues that would need to be resolved before the transition was completed.

The administration said Office of Collective Bargaining Director Joss Springette met with union officials for fire and health employees in early June 2019 to discuss the integration and address concerns from union members.

The next meeting of the integration team was scheduled for early August 2019.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/administration-moves-forward-with-integration-of-fire-and-emergency-medical-services/