ICYMI: LCSR Medical Director details alleged coverage lapses in scathing letter

LOWVILLE- Lewis County’s Search & Rescue Medical Director, Dr. Timothy Mathis, is threatening to resign and has come out with allegations across various avenues, including lapses with providing care.

These are developments that stem recently from WWNY-TV.

In a nutshell, the county has been faced with a growing EMS issue and officials are trying to hash out the best way to move forward.

In Dr. Mathis’ resignation notice, a list of issues is sorted out against Search & Rescue, all of which allege lapses in not answering 9-1-1 calls, not safely providing care and frequently not being available for life threatening situations.

To clarify, Dr. Mathis’ resignation would become effective on August 19, unless these issues described in the letter can be resolved.

Making an immediate response, Search & Rescue Chief of Operations, Josh Levesque, has rebuked these allegations, stating to reporters that the organization has not been doing anything differently and “this is to make us look bad,” he said.

Levesque appears to be skeptical about the letter and claims it all of a sudden surfaced after he says the County Manager, Timothy Hunt, the county’s Emergency Management Director, Bob McKenzie, and John Morrisey, who handles enforcement and regulation for the State Health Department, were all witnessed having a conversation with Dr. Mathis.

The county manager told reporters that conversation did not happen and is taking the letter seriously.

Based on an independent study, the county is expected to sometime pursue its own EMS service.

LCSR image.