Washington County formally removes ambulance director

WASHINGTON — After 16 months on paid leave, Washington County Ambulance Director Jeremy Peck was unceremoniously removed from the local government’s payroll Tuesday morning in a unanimous vote with no discussion, sandwiched between a flurry of eight unrelated change requests from the department.

Peck was first placed on a one-month unpaid leave in October of 2022 and ordered to undergo human resources training, but on Nov. 1 of that year was instead placed on paid leave, pending investigation of an unspecified issue which county officials remain unwilling to disclose.

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Since then, the county has continued to pay Peck’s salary, a total of about $135,000 — not including employee benefits, which he also received — over the course of his leave, based on budget documents acquired by The Southeast Iowa Union.

Washington County Supervisors and Peck all declined to comment on the director’s formal departure.

Peck was hired in 2020, and achieved a handful of accomplishments during his time as ambulance director, overseeing the service’s transition from a private to county-run entity, launching a Basic Life Support (or BLS) crew to grapple with paramedic shortages and boosting the ambulance’s revenue through non-emergency transfer calls.

The circumstances surrounding his suspension, and now termination, remain unclear.

Staff suggest myriad complaints, legal issues

In late 2022, most employees of the Washington County Ambulance Service signed a letter calling for a “vote of no confidence” against Peck. Paramedic Mike Freel read it aloud during a supervisor meeting, where he said the director had created a work environment that was “highly toxic,” with a “complete lack of transparency and accountability,” that left employees afraid of workplace retaliation.

Since that day, Supervisors have held at least eight closed sessions in order to “discuss strategy with counsel in matters that are presently in litigation or where litigation is imminent.” While the specific content of those sessions remains unknown, several happened at meetings attended by representatives from Hopkins & Huebner P.C., a consultant the county hired in 2022, “to provide legal advice on employment issues” at the ambulance department, according to meeting minutes.

The Union filed public record requests on Feb. 27 and March 5, seeking copies of any mediation agreements, legal settlement records, documents indicating a reason for Peck’s resignation or termination, and any legally required communications between the former ambulance director and other staff.

County Attorney Nathan Repp said in response to both requests that the county didn’t have disclosable records of the requested types at the moment, but added that, “any potential settlement agreements as requested … would be public once that settlement agreement were finalized.” Repp later added that he had no estimate for how long such a settlement process might take.

Additionally, three ambulance department staff members told The Union the agency was currently under investigation by state and federal officials for its documentation practices during Peck’s tenure. All three of the employees spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters currently under investigation. Two of those sources, along with a fourth anonymous ambulance employee, said Peck had instructed staff to alter official documents during his time as director.

Peck declined to comment on those claims.

“If you can tell me for fact who the anonymous sources are I will comment,” he said in a text message. When The Union declined to reveal the names, Peck replied, “Yep. Then that's my comment! I will happily talk to you once you give up the names.”

The Union has not filed a public record request for evidence of altered documents, since state law exempts government records from public examination when they are “part of an ongoing investigation.”

What took so long?

In total, just over 500 days passed between the county’s first attempt to suspend Peck as its ambulance director and its approval of a change request ending his employment.

Board of Supervisors Chair Richard Young declined to comment at-length when asked about a reason for the wait, but said it was largely attributable to Iowa’s “Back the Blue” Act, passed by the state legislature in 2021. That law amended Chapter 80F of the state code, with provisions that protect not only police officers, but also firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and other emergency response professionals under the blanket term, “officers.”

“The Back the Blue law, there’s a process that you have to go through, and we have to follow it,” he said. “In that law, it says, ‘This covers law enforcement, firefighters, EMTs, and — I believe — dispatchers.’”

That legislation added extensive language to Iowa law, including a subsection that forbids local governments from firing officers solely for withholding “exculpatory evidence,” but still allowing the officers to be suspended or dismissed, in accordance with their agency’s collective bargaining agreement.

The bill also established notification requirements for officers accused of workplace harassment, specified that officers could consult legal counsel during disciplinary proceedings, allowed them to seek compensation from groups that file false complaints, and forbade courts from forcing disclosure of communications between officers and their collective bargaining representatives.

Young said the delays had to do with the bill’s changes to Iowa Code 80F, but declined to specify which aspect of the legislation caused the 16-month wait before Peck’s formal removal as ambulance director this week.

What happens next?

Young said the county would start moving to select a new director as soon as possible, but said he expected the process to take several months.

“We’ll have to advertise and do interviews, all that stuff,” he said. “I would like to see it advertised nationally, not just locally, so we can get the best candidate for Washington County.”

Since December, Katrina Altenhofen has served as the interim director of Washington County’s ambulance service, doing double duty between that role and her job as the head of Hospice of Washington County, with a front door about 200 feet from the ambulance station.

In an interview last summer for the Washington Evening Journal’s Women in Business Edition, Altenhofen said she felt the agency had made considerable progress under her leadership, even as her service stretched on far longer than anticipated.

“I hope so, I hope we’ve continued to move forward,“ she said. ”Things have not moved as fast as the pace I would like … but we’re still seeing forward progress.“

Others have reported struggles, however, to grapple with ongoing uncertainty about the county agency’s long-term boss.

The Washington County EMS Advisory Council’s 2023 and 2024 annual reports issued only one recommendation to the Board of Supervisors, asking them to, “provide the Washington County Ambulance Service with consistent, permanent leadership structure and support.”

At a supervisor meeting in February, EMS Advisory Council Member Jim Lester said the group remained adamant on that suggestion.

“It’s kind of been at a standstill,” he said. “Katrina’s done a great job as the interim director, and things have moved forward tremendously with that. But having something permanent, I think, would be what the QRS systems and things would appreciate, and I think that would help our advisory council to have some good direction.”

Ambulance employees, meanwhile, say the biggest impact of the lengthy wait is their own anxiety. With staff saying they feared retaliation from the former director, the possibility of him returning to the role was worrying.

In the letter calling for a vote of no confidence in 2022, staff called attention to that sense of unease.

“We hesitate because we consider ourselves a team of dedicated, devoted, educated individuals,” the letter said. “We also hesitate because we fully believe that if this letter does not have the desired result, and we continue to work under the current administration, there will most certainly be retaliation; be it blatant or subtle.”

That effect has continued even as Peck remained on leave, according to one department employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

“Even though he officially was gone, it still was a huge burden on everybody,” the employee said. “It kept lingering.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com