It was a celebration of a long-term vision of Ken Strange and his team at Wimberley EMS. On Saturday, EMS team members celebrated alongside members of the community with the opening of their new digs at Twilight Trail. Below, Yvette Strange shows off one of the many EMS sleeping quarters at the new facility. Daily Record photos by Lance Winter

'A LABOR OF LOVE': Wimberley EMS celebrates opening of new facility

Tue, 05/18/2021 - 6:18pm

Lance Winter

Publisher

@LanceWinter

lwinter@sanmarcosrecord.com

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

WIMBERLEY — It’s a dream come true for Ken Strange.

For more than a decade he and others have scratched and clawed for every cent they could to expand the infrastructure of the Wimberley Emergency Medical Services.

Over the weekend evidence of their hard work and dedication was on display at the open house of their new digs, located at 220 Twilight Trail followed by the annual Duck Race fundraiser.

"It's been a labor of love," said Strange, Wimberley EMS Director. "You know I wanted to leave a legacy before I leave this earth ... I'm hoping this is going to be one of the legacies."

Their new facility, at 8,000 square feet, has five bedrooms for medics to sleep in during their 48-hour shifts. At the heart of the building is a communications center, but the building also comes with creature comforts one would expect being away from home for an extended period. It has a spacious living room, kitchen, bedrooms and dining room. There's also a classroom that seats two dozen. Located on the adjacent side of the building is a room for emergency triage and four administrative offices.

"We have two ambulances in service, each ambulance has two paramedics. So, two paramedics, two standard ambulances, 24 hours a day seven days a week," Strange added.

But what's perhaps most remarkable about the facility — which rang up at $1.9 million — is it’s completely paid for.

"We received a big donation from the emergency services district, number seven," Strange said. "Half was from them, the other half we raised through donations and fees for service; and we worked hard saving and planning on this build for about 15 years."

Tracy Dean with Dean Construction also made a huge contribution by donating and building the roof over the structure. It was because of that generosity Dean was allowed to name a room in the building. He chose to name the triage room after Dr. Kenneth Hudspeth, a long-time doctor in Wimberley.

Strange said they purchased one new ambulance and are currently having another built, not figured in the expansion cost, which will accommodate the growth of their community which is growing larger every day.

The Duck Race was held as a raffle this year, instead of the annual run of the rubber ducks down the Blanco River. The five-bucks-a-duck fundraiser raised around $7,500. The proceeds will go towards a new ambulance as the Wimberley EMS intends to open a new hub location in the future. The online auction is still running on wimberleyems.com through the end of May.