Photo by ep_jhu

After news broke of the scathing resignation letter she sent to Mayor Muriel Bowser at the end of January, Dr. Jullette Saussy said today that she’s leaving her position as D.C. Fire and EMS Department’s medical director because the agency’s culture is “rife with resistance to change, from the top down.”

“At the end of the day, we have to be consistent,” Saussy said in an interview on the Kojo Nnamdi Show. “It cannot be Russian roulette.” She also expressed concern about her words being misconstrued.

Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters that Saussy “wants a third-service in the District that she wants to lead outside the fire department,” however, she was recruited to work in the existing system that combines fire and medical services.

But Saussy said, it doesn’t matter in what form it comes, the medical division “just has to have its own line of authority, its own infrastructure, and be uniquely driven by science and medicine.”

Throughout her tenure, Saussy reported to the department’s fire chief, but “we have two very different functions and focuses,” she said, and her reform efforts were met with “a very high level of resistance.”

Meanwhile, she said, as the Bowser administration calls her out for wanting a separate service, they have a plan to bring in private ambulances. That’s essentially the same thing—a third party, Saussy said.

She insists that’s not the answer. Before bringing in extra hands, the department’s current medics must be trained to discern basic calls from advanced calls, she said, adding that this would take a baseline assessment. But her attempts to conduct one was turned down.

Her last day at the troubled system is Febuary 13.

Bowser will announce an interim Medical Director later this week, said Bowser administration spokesperson Michael Czin. “It’s not an easy task and we need a team that’s willing to put in the hard work and stay for the long haul.” The mayor appointed Gregory Dean as the head of FEMS in March, replacing Kenneth Ellerbe.