Delco’s new emergency services director is focused on ‘sustainability’ after Crozer-Chester Medical Center’s closure
Gary Vinnacombe is a Delaware County native and longtime emergency services professional who has spent the last two decades overseeing EMS teams across Delaware and Chester Counties.
Delaware County’s new emergency services director wants to build something sustainable.
Gary Vinnacombe is a Delco native who has spent the last two decades overseeing EMS teams across Delaware and Chester Counties. Last month, he took the helm of Delaware County’s emergency services department, a homecoming of sorts for the longtime first responder, who got his start at Haverford’s Manoa Fire Company.
Vinnacombe, 43, replaces interim director Ed Beebe, who oversaw Delaware County’s emergency services for 18 months after former director Timothy Boyce was charged with indecent assault, among other offenses, related to his alleged groping of a female coworker.
Vinnacombe is taking over Delco’s emergency services apparatus at a pivotal time. The county is continuing to navigate the fallout from Crozer-Chester Medical Center’s closure, and some of its municipalities are considering emergency service mergers and cooperative authorities to fill gaps in service. Now, Vinnacombe says he’s eager to work with emergency responders across the county to build a lasting system that can serve Delco’s residents.
Vinnacombe grew up in Delaware County and is a 2001 graduate of Haverford High School. He holds an associate’s degree in nursing science from Delaware County Community College, a bachelor’s degree in emergency and disaster management from American Military University, and a master’s of public administration from Anna Maria College.
Vinnacombe has worn many hats over his two-plus decades in emergency management. He joined the Manoa Fire Company as a teenager, where he rose up to become the company’s EMS captain. He spent over a decade as the deputy chief of EMS at Darby’s Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital and is a longtime adjunct faculty member at Delaware County Community College, where he teaches EMT classes, municipal police academy emergency responder training, and CPR. Most recently, Vinnacombe spent 14 years with the West Grove Fire Company in Chester County, where he was assistant chief and oversaw day-to-day operations and employee recruitment and retention. He currently lives in Chester County.
Vinnacombe said the Crozer fallout is an “ongoing evaluation” for his department. He’s optimistic about ChristianaCare’s soon-to-open Aston and Springfield micro hospitals (the Aston facility is set to open this summer, and the Springfield facility next summer). The region’s existing hospitals have “done a fantastic job of absorbing that volume,” Vinnacombe said, and local municipalities have made a strong effort in “coming together to ensure that service continues to get delivered.”
As the county rebuilds its emergency services, Vinnacombe said sustainability is top of mind.
“We can build all these great things all day long,” he said. “If we don’t have a plan or a mechanism to sustain them, it doesn’t matter what we build.”
When asked about the push by Media, Nether Providence, Upper Providence, Rose Valley, Rutledge, and Swarthmore to create a regional EMS authority to provide advanced life-support care through an annual fee structure, Vinnacombe said he thinks “the concept of regionalization is the key to sustainability.”
However, he added, it’s important to take a close look at the funding mechanisms for different regional service models, as “every one of them has pros and cons.”
“I would certainly say, obviously anything that we can do to help people collaborate, or bring the right people to the table, we certainly want to,” he said.
The emergency services director also steps into his role weeks after Delaware County unveiled a $36 million overhaul to its emergency telecommunications system, curbing years of false alarms and poor connection over its 911 radio waves.
The difference is night and day for Vinnacombe’s first responders, he said. Now, police, fire, and EMS officials can get real-time notes from 911 calls, fortifying them with a detailed report before they even get on the scene.
“The residents of Delaware County are in such a better space because of it,” Vinnacombe said.
Vinnacombe’s department is preparing for a busy summer. The PGA Tour Championship, FIFA World Cup, MLB All-Star Game, and Semiquincentennial are all descending on the Philly area in the coming months, and Delaware County officials are expecting a wave of tourists — and with them, an increased need for emergency responders.
Delco’s emergency services department is planning to support the upcoming PGA Tour at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square with extra first responders, and Vinnacombe’s team has been busy filling requests for backup from municipalities.
As he settles in, Vinnacombe is confident that Delco is “only going up.”
“The services are only going to get better. Technology’s only going to continue to evolve,” he said. “The investments that the county has made into technology and public safety have improved the services that get delivered.”
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