Brittany Lyte, Staff Writer
Published 02:00 p.m., Saturday, April 2, 2011
STRATFORD -- On a recent Friday morning, Matthew Haynes, a paramedic, was napping in one of eight tidy bunks on the second floor of the Emergency Medical Services building when a call came in.
"I had to walk downstairs," he said, as if delivering the punch line of a joke. When met with silence, he explained: "It was a little different walking down rather than up. That will take some getting used to."
For three decades, EMS was holed up in the basement of the police department on Longbrook Avenue. Plans for a new building had been in the works for nearly as long.
When the volunteer-based organization was founded in 1977, its cramped underground quarters were supposed to be temporary. But there were stalls. Delays. Concerns that moving the operation to the center of town would congest traffic. Would there be enough parking?
Thirty-one years and nearly $2 million later, the oft-delayed project is complete. The building is one of a number of changes, including the hiring of an EMS director, started recently to help EMS rebound from reported infighting, nepotism and volunteer participation and retention troubles.
The new EMS facility on Main Street smells of fresh paint. There's video security, a badge entry system, four restrooms, and a power washer in the bay, which houses all six of the department's ambulances include a new one.
The best of the building's glossy new features?
"The windows," said Haynes, gazing out of one from his seat at the kitchen counter. "It's nice to be in the town's eye, whereas when we were in the basement in the back of the police department, no one knew we were there. When you'd call 911, we showed up, but no one knew where we were coming from. Now we're next to the fire department, across from Town Hall. I think when you're visible, people are more likely to get behind you."
Another key change is the new EMS director. But how that change plays out is still up in the air, said Haynes.
"The jury's still out,'' he said, "on this whole administration upheaval."
The new top dog at EMS is 39-year-old Philip Onofrio, a soft, unassuming father, recreational pilot and Beacon Falls resident with 20 years experience.
Onofrio, bespeckled and broad-shouldered, is a former volunteer firefighter. A former respiratory therapist, he once headed the communications center at American Medical Response in New Haven. And he's done a number of mutual aid calls in Stratford as a paramedic in Bridgeport. Most recently, he was director of operations at Bristol Hospital EMS.
Onofrio isn't just a new hire with an impressive resume. He's a new hire with an impressive resume who's stepping into a brand new role.
The town had an EMS chief from 1977 to 2000 when the position was no longer funded. At that time, the fire chief assumed the top role, while the EMS administrator ran day-to-day operations.
Now Onofrio is in charge. In addition, he's overseeing the town's emergency dispatch center.
One recent Friday morning in his office, Onofrio, surrounded by greeting cards with congratulatory statements such as one that read "You're the one!", said he's excited to settle in to his new role.
Onofrio said the signature of his management style is collaboration. Rather than rule by barking orders, he listens, observes and consults data. He said he spent his first week on the job pouring over policies and getting to know the staff.
Gavin Forrester, a 22-year EMS member, said most volunteers seem excited and encouraged by Onofrio's presence.
The new director role, however, isn't popular with everyone.
A town councilman charged Mayor John A. Harkins with potential town charter violations when he created the $100,000 director position, saying he formed the new office without approval from the council.
An attorney representing EMS Administrator Donna Best, who runs day-to-day operations, threatened to file a lawsuit against the mayor last week for marginalizing Best and political interference. Best's attorney, Leon Rosenblatt, is claiming Onofrio's position is redundant because Best has been performing his tasks for the last 20 years. Though her official title is administrator, Best is called chief on the EMS website. Best's husband, Jonathan Best, ran against Harkins in the 2009 mayoral primary.
Onofrio said his job is not redundant.
"Her role has not changed," he said, adding, "Donna and I have been working together. We're coming up with goals for EMS together."
At Stratford EMS, the challenges are plentiful.
Last August, a report by an independent consultant estimated the organization had lost more than a half-million dollars to private ambulance companies due to a low emergency response rate that year.
The report blames the financial blow and what several volunteers at the time called a threat to public safety, on a storm of internal troubles -- infighting, nepotism and volunteer participation and retention troubles, to name a few.
Whether Onofrio can improve the organization's profitability, and correct what the report characterizes as a "toxic" and "dysfunctional" atmosphere at the department, will be his ultimate challenge.
"So far, it seems there are a lot of little things that piled up that need to be addressed policy-wise and communications-wise," Onofrio said. "I want to come to understand all the little frustrations that are out there. Do we not have a tool that we need?"
Onofrio has a list of projects scribbled on his white board on the wall opposite his desk: rewriting the recruitment and hiring process, improving communication, identifying a spot to store keys.
"I've done this before," he said. "I've stepped into operations that were in distress and I've been able to turn them around. But I have not seen anything yet that has led me to think in my mind that it can't be resolved or addressed."
© 2011 Hearst Communications Inc.