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(WSAZ) -
The Braxton County Emergency Service Department is making substantial changes in an attempt to regain the public's trust. This comes after its EMS director was arrested for taking and using more than 300 vials of narcotics, including morphine and fentanyl.
The Braxton County EMS director is charged with three counts of obtaining a prescription by misrepresentation and grand larceny. Investigators say she stole more than $1,000 worth of narcotics.
State Police said Jamie A. Mathes, 43, of Richwood, West Virginia, is charged with three counts of obtaining a prescription by misrepresentation and grand larceny.
Braxton Emergency Services director, Braxton 911 director and acting EMS director John Hoffman said this event was disheartening for his employees.
"You don't get into this business for the money," Hoffman said. "You get into it because you want to help other people. Our employees are driven by that, to start out with, and they know that we can only go up from here at this particular time."
Before the incident, Mathes was responsible for keeping and securing these controlled narcotics, WVSP Sgt. K.W. Huddleston said. New procedures require multiple checks and balances to order and handle these medications, Hoffman said.
Every employee has been given a drug test, and patient records have been reviewed since the arrest.
"We are providing a high level of emergency medical services," Hoffman said. "We are driven by that. Obviously, we need to demonstrate confidence to the public in our level of service, and I think we can do that. There are no other anomalies in the level of our care, other than the challenge we have had with our director."
Hoffman has brought in an outside agency to assist with the reorganization. HeathNet has board certified emergency doctors that will consult and serve as the interim medical director.
"It's a message of checks and balances, you set up policies and you set up procedures then on the back side of that you are always auditing," HealthNet CEO Clinton Burley said. "Making sure the front line care providers are following those procedures for the benefit of the patients we serve."
Huddleston said it was shocking to see all the medicine and needles thrown around Mathes' office. He said enough drugs had been consumed to kill multiple people, multiple times over.
Mathes has been released from jail on $25,000 bail. No court dates have been set, as police continue to investigate the four felony counts filed against her.
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