John Peterson named Medic’s Executive Director effective November 1, 2021.
The Agency’s Board of Commissioners, which includes representatives from Mecklenburg County and both local hospital systems (Atrium Health and Novant Health) approved the selection after a nationwide search. Peterson is filling the role vacated by Joe Penner, who retired in October having served the community as Medic’s Executive Director for the past 25 years.
“It is evident that John Peterson is passionate about improvement processes, innovative patient care solutions and employee advocacy. We are looking forward to his leadership in our community and continuing Me
dic’s mission,” stated the Agency’s board chair Dr. Gary Little.
Peterson is joining Medic after a lengthy leadership career with Sunstar Paramedics in Pinellas County, Florida, most recently as the Chief Operating Officer. He also previously served as the Chief Operating Officer for the Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Originally from Minnesota, Peterson attended undergraduate school in Chicago at North Park University. He worked as a Firefighter/EMT and Firefighter/Paramedic in Illinois before moving to Florida, where he worked as a Paramedic while earning his master’s degree in Occupational Therapy from Barry University in Miami and then an MBA in Healthcare Management from the University of Texas at Tyler.
Medic operates one of the busiest EMS agencies in the state of North Carolina with over 156K responses last fiscal year, and is the sole 911 ambulance service provider in Mecklenburg County including the greater Charlotte area. The Agency’s responsibilities include emergency medical response, non-emergency scheduled transports, special event coverage, tactical paramedic SWAT support and managing the County’s 911 Emergency Medical Dispatch Center. Medic is renowned as one of the top performing EMS Agencies in the nation, particularly for cardiac arrest patient outcomes and extensive research initiatives that have world-wide impact on EMS practices.
