Oxford, AL – In a move aimed at improving emergency medical and ambulance response times and reinforcing the city’s long-term healthcare infrastructure, the Oxford City Council has approved a vote to reallocate $2,195,000 to the City’s Healthcare Authority. This reallocation—part of a larger $17+ million bond package approved by the city—will support the development of three new Oxford Paramedic stations strategically located throughout Oxford.
City officials emphasized that the funding does not add new ambulances or increase payroll costs. Instead, the plan involves redistributing existing resources and personnel from the city’s current ambulance stations to the new neighborhood-based stations. The vote was a procedural requirement under the city’s bond structure, as funds transferred from the city to its agencies—such as the school board or water board—must be moved through formal council approval.
A Strategic Move for Long-Term Healthcare Delivery
The new EMS stations will fall under the management of the Healthcare Authority of the City of Oxford, which operates independently but remains a part of the city’s governance structure—similar to the public school board or water board. The Authority oversees Oxford Health Systems, the agency that delivers a wide range of public healthcare services, including Oxford Paramedics.
Tom Dixon, Executive Director of Health and CEO of the Healthcare Authority, explained that Oxford Paramedics was created in 2020 as a service line under the Healthcare Authority in response to the closure of the former Oxford EMS, which went bankrupt that same year.
“Oxford EMS was a non-profit community-based EMS service,” Dixon said. “As many charity-based services have struggled to stay afloat, unfortunately, that non-profit company ceased operations in September of 2020. However, we wanted to take the opportunity to do it right and build a new service under our City’s health authority that is responsive, transparent, and focused on quality health services and sustainability. We think we have the best paramedics, nurses, and EMS system in the state now.”
Dixon emphasized that the funding and station restructuring efforts this week are part of a strategic, years-long plan developed in collaboration with the mayor, city council, and the healthcare authority board. “The mayor and city council are quality-focused. I think they recognize the ability to better care for each neighborhood locally rather than continuing all operations out of a central station. When you have elected leaders, like our mayor and city council, who genuinely care about the people, coupled with excellent healthcare providers, like our Oxford Paramedics team, we have a guarantee for success in providing world-class care to our Oxford citizens,” Dixon said.
New Stations to Improve Response Times
Currently, Oxford’s EMS system is centralized at two main locations—one near UPS on Hamric Drive West and another in Bynum. While this configuration has kept response times below the national average (Oxford’s current average is between 7 and 8 minutes), Oxford is a very large city geographically, almost 18 miles wide; officials are targeting an average EMS response time of five minutes citywide.
The three new stations will be located in:
- The Friendship Road area, including Oak Hill, Sherwood Forest, Leon Smith, and Cider Ridge neighborhoods
- The Highway 21 corridor serves areas like Kirby and Cobb Road, McIntosh Trails, and subdivisions near Denney Road.
- An expanded site in Bynum, where over 300 new homes are being developed and where industry is exploding with hundreds of new jobs
These new stations will help eliminate travel delays caused by centrally located ambulances and allow emergency crews to be positioned closer to the neighborhoods they serve.
“We’re not adding vehicles or employees. We’re strategically placing what we already have,” Dixon said. “Instead of having five ambulances in one place, we’re distributing them across the city where they’re needed most, in our neighborhoods.”
Routine Government Procedure with a Purpose
The vote to move the funds to the Healthcare Authority is part of the standard municipal procedure since the Authority is an agency of the city and not under daily mayoral management. Similar disbursements will occur for other projects under the $17+ million bond, including funding allocated to the school board and a sewer infrastructure upgrade.
“This is business as usual,” Dixon noted. “Cities function by transferring funds to their agencies, and this is just one piece of the citywide improvements being supported by the bond.”
Dixon also clarified that while response times are important for public reassurance, the broader goal is quality care, proper resource deployment, and long-term stability in Oxford’s emergency medical services.
“This is not about politics. This is about building a healthcare infrastructure that works for every neighborhood in Oxford,” he said.
The new stations are expected to be built and operational within a timeframe that aligns with the city’s broader capital improvement plans.
