WASILLA --The Matanuska-Susitna Borough has placed the borough's top three emergency medical officers on administrative leave as officials investigate an undisclosed union complaint.
The three managers are: Clint Vardeman, deputy director for emergency medical services; Brian Wallace, emergency medical chief for the borough's suburban core area; and Gene Wiseman, chief of rural EMS in the borough.
The action was triggered by a formal complaint from the borough's employee union, officials say.
Dennis Brodigan, outgoing emergency services director, notified the borough's 58 full-time emergency responders and 475 on-call responders about the "recent changes in the leadership of the EMS Division" in a Wednesday morning email.
Last week, Brodigan turned in his resignation for personal reasons, effective May 18, which he also mentioned in the email.
Few specifics were available Wednesday as to what triggered the sudden decision to place the three on leave.
Borough Manager John Moosey and assistant manager George Hays couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Brodigan said he knew little about the reasons behind the changes. He said a formal complaint filed with the borough's human resources department by the Mat-Su Borough Employees Association triggered the investigation that led to the leaves.
"All of this probably will be resolved by next week," Brodigan said. "It's just a temporary thing."
Asked if his resignation had anything to do borough's action, he said "not in my mind" but added that was a question better put to Moosey or Hays.
Casey Cook, the borough's emergency manager for the last three-and-a-half years, is serving as Vardeman's interim replacement.
Cook is working with EMS staff and the borough's supervisory medics to make sure rank-and-file responders don't see a change while the investigation continues, he said.