Dove Creek Ambulance District Reorganizes Board, Seeks New EMS Chief

One ambulance district covers all 1,068 square miles of Dolores County, staffed around the clock and backed by nothing closer than 15 miles when it cannot respond. That district, the Dove Creek Ambulance District, completed a board reorganization on March 12, seating Jake Kline, Edward Woods, LaVerna Baxter, and Gregg Liming as its governing board. Now it needs a chief to run the operation.

The district posted the EMS Chief position in the April issue of the Pinto Bean, signaling an active recruitment push at a moment when the board itself is freshly constituted. No election was held for the seats: the candidate pool matched the number of openings, a routine outcome in rural Colorado special districts but one that compresses the timeline between governance change and operational continuity.

The chief's role at DCAD is not a paper title. In a district serving roughly 2,000 county residents spread across mesas, narrow valleys, and elevations topping 14,000 feet, that person manages staffing schedules, maintains paramedic and EMT certifications, oversees mutual-aid coordination, and works alongside the county's Emergency Manager and the volunteer Dolores County Search and Rescue team. The district draws on more than 52 years of combined paramedic experience and operates primarily from a 2017 Ford F450 Type I ambulance.

When DCAD cannot respond, the alternatives are measured in miles and minutes: Pleasant View Fire Protection District, roughly 15 miles out; San Juan Hospital in Monticello, Utah, 25 miles away; and Southwest Memorial Hospital's unit in Cortez, 35 miles from Dove Creek. A Dolores County Sheriff's account from a prior staffing shortage described a dispatcher spending 30 minutes searching for personnel before routing a call to Cortez, underscoring what a thin margin the county operates on.

Rural EMS chief positions in Colorado can remain open for months, particularly in small districts where compensation and isolation compete against urban agency offers. For DCAD's new board, filling the role quickly is not only an administrative priority but a direct factor in whether the district can pursue grant funding, deepen mutual-aid agreements, and stabilize crew levels before the summer months, when remote terrain and recreational traffic add pressure to call volume.

The job posting is available in the current Pinto Bean and through the district's official website. Board meetings are open to the public, with schedules and contact information listed on the district's site.