onboarded.

“Allina has been working very hard with our current staff to get them onboarded and trained, and ready for the transition,” he said. “I’m very pleased to report that all of our fulltime EMS staff have chosen to accept offers of employment with Alina and they will continue to serve in our community,” he went on. Stroud also said that some employees had retried completely from EMS, while others had contracts elsewhere that would have conflicted with them working for Allina. Of the private healthcare provider itself, Stroud said that, “They will be purchasing our fleet and some of our capital assets,” while Allina had brought in its own contractor to bring the building they would be using in line with needs and the terms of their lease agreement with the City. Also present with Stroud for the council meeting November 10 were Dave Matteson, manager of ambulance operations for Allina Health North Metro EMS and Matt Bouthilet, supervisor of ambulance operations for River Falls. Bouthilet took time out to address the council after Matteson had finished his remarks.

“It’s been an honor,” Bouthilet said, thanking the River Falls EMS staff for their openness with both himself and Matteson. “I look forward to keeping that going,’ he said. “There’s a real drive out here to serve the community.” Outside the November 10 meeting, a news release from Allina Health made known the shift in service providers, affecting not just River Falls but also the surrounding area and communities, specifically mentioning, “Clifton, Pleasant Valley, River Falls, Oak Grove, Troy, Kinnickinnic, and Prescott” as being affected by the transition.

“We are proud to have been selected by the River Falls City Council to serve their city,” Susan Long said as vice president of operations for Allina Health EMS, giving the City of River Falls props for its “rigorous evaluation” process to settle on Allina Health. “We look forward to a long future in the city and to becoming a good neighbor to

all the area communities we now serve,” Long said of the western Pierce County service area.