By Christopher Cartwright
The Keene Sentinel
CHESHIRE COUNTY, N.H. — The top two officials at Cheshire EMS are departing the county-run agency, County Administrator Chris Coates said Monday.
Chief Michael Spain is leaving the department effective at 5 p.m. Monday to move back to his family in Illinois, while Deputy Chief Chad Butler is planning to pursue a different job opportunity soon, Coates said in an announcement sent around 9:30 Monday morning to the area towns that contract with Cheshire EMS. Spain did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
As of July, Westmoreland, Gilsum, Harrisville, Stoddard and Swanzey had all signed contracts with the county. Coates said at the time the county was serving Richmond as well, although no contract had been signed yet.
“As we move forward and reorganize the department, there will be no changes to service, and all portions of our contract with your town will be fulfilled,” the announcement reads.
Butler will serve as interim chief “through this transition period,” with a focus on day-to-day operations, according to the announcement. He notified Spain and Coates prior to Spain’s decision to retire that he had been offered a job outside the healthcare industry, Coates said.
The county also has contracted with Municipal Resources, Inc. — a Plymouth-based municipal management consulting firm — to help with the transition into new leadership, according to Coates.
Don Bliss, a subject-matter expert for Municipal Resources, will assist in the transition, the announcement stated. Chris Olsen — who has 34 years of experience in fire and EMS, including stints as chief in East Greenwich, R.I. and Cotuit, Mass., according to a resume provided by the county — will act as interim chief focused on administration.
In a call with The Sentinel on Monday morning, Coates said Spain’s decision to retire stemmed from wanting to move closer to his family.
“Family always comes first in our mind,” Coates said. He added that when Spain was originally hired in July 2022, the county expected he’d be around for about two years.
Coates also said there are several promising candidates for deputy chief within the organization and anticipated the organization would hire a new one by the end of next week.
“Both chiefs have put us in a position for real success here,” Coates said about the two. “We started from literally nothing and built something.”
Cheshire EMS launched in November 2022, about a year after the county had announced plans to acquire private Keene-based DiLuzio Ambulance Service. That deal fell through in April 2022, but the county decided to move forward with its own service, using federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to construct its headquarters in Swanzey, purchase equipment including ambulances and help subsidize the first three years of service costs for contracted towns.
DiLuzio closed May 3, adding increased uncertainty to the local EMS landscape. Since then, towns affected by the closure have had to choose whether to contract with the county service, Brattleboro-based Rescue Inc., or another EMS provider.
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