What happened to Cypress Creek EMS?

[MMiz]

They always seemed to be at the forefront of EMS.

Axon bodycams, in-field blood work, strong education programs, the best equipment.

Where did they go wrong?

 

[NomadicMedic]

Embezzlement was the start.

 

[EpiEMS]

Looks like they filed back in 2003 also.

I’m trying to dig into their chapter 11 filings…

 

[DrParasite]

It looks like they had some issues getting funding from the ESD, as well as questions involving some of their billing practices...

Cypress Creek Emergency Medical Services files for bankruptcy after 45 years

Cypress Creek Emergency Medical Services officials confirmed Nov. 19 that the emergency medical services provider has filed for bankruptcy in an effort to reorganize the nonprofit’s debt.

communityimpact.com

CCEMS officials say staffing issues are hindering the transfer of services to ESD 11 Mobile Healthcare

According to Cypress Creek Emergency Medical Services CEO Wren Nealy, many of the employees that will be leaving CCEMS to work for ESD 11 Mobile Healthcare have requested to use paid time off in the final months leading into the transition of services, which Nealy said has strained CCEMS'...

communityimpact.com

Harris County ESD 11, Cypress Creek EMS officials spar over June payment

Representatives from both entities sparred at the June 24 meeting, with ESD 11 commissioners claiming CCEMS officials have been unresponsive to questions pertaining to the impending transition of services, as well as a pair of audits that date back to 2020.

communityimpact.com

New Questions Surface about Billing Practices, Financial Relationships of Cypress Creek EMS - Spring Happenings

Spring, Texas – New questions have surfaced about financial relationships between north Harris County ambulance service provider Cypress…

www.springhappenings.com

'Shut your mouth': Tempers flare again as Cypress Creek EMS, Harris County ESD No. 11 review budget

“The district is not going to pay for things you want to do,” Commissioner Kevin Brost said. “We're going to pay for the delivery of EMS services to our citizens.”

communityimpact.com

Judge Tosses Claims Against ESD 11 Commissioners in Legal Fight with Cypress Creek EMS - Spring Happenings

Spring, Texas – A court in Houston has removed Harris County Emergency Services District No. 11 (ESD 11) commissioners…

www.springhappenings.com

CCEMS and ESD No. 11 battle continues with additional lawsuit

Harris County Emergency Services District. No. 11 has filed a suit against all former and...

www.houstonchronicle.com

Cypress Creek EMS demands withheld payments or it can no longer operate

“Commissioners’ failure to prioritize the emergency care to residents of District 11, and its efforts to put any of our employees out of work right before the holidays after a year of pandemic-driven epic hardships, is unconscionable to us,” CCEMS CEO Wren Nealy said. “But we will never stop...

communityimpact.com

Cypress Creek EMS has been fired. What’s next?

Hundreds of thousands of families depend on Cypress Creek Emergency Medical Services for 911 medical calls, but with a unanimous vote, the government entity in charge of them, fired the ambulance service, Thursday.

www.click2houston.com

 

[CCCSD]

But…but…but…they were the EPITOME of EMS and TEMS. Just ask them…

”take Uber, it’s cheaper” 😂

 

[GMCmedic]

I wonder what happened to that EMT that we told not to go work there but she went anyway?

 

[RocketMedic]

**wades in**

Whoo howdy.

So, Creek started going wrong when the leadership team of Brad England and Wren Nealy realized they could steal money. It really sped up when they were able to start siphoning away hundreds of thousands of dollars via Koronis Revenue Solutions, a company owned by Wren’s wife and chosen to bill for Creek by Creek leadership. And it was sustained by local, industry and political leaders who were all more than willing to ignore integrity in favor of some reflected basking. People lined up to respect the Creek leadership team, and it made them more brazen.

 

[RocketMedic]

I wonder what happened to that EMT that we told not to go work there but she went anyway?

I think she got fired. Not really a bad thing, I got canned myself from there. It’s kind of their thing.

Wren fired most of the loyal people out of nowhere a few weeks ago though. No warning, no WARN Act notice, and over the phone/email to dozens of the most loyal people they had. Folks who burned their bridges with ESD-11 EMS as a loyalty pledge to Cypress Creek got abandoned. And apparently they’re not paying out PTO accrued and have declared bankruptcy? Defenders say it’s a business necessity; but firing someone via email and then lacking the personal integrity to even answer basic questions (apparently “his lawyer won’t let him communicate until this is all resolved”) shows me who they are. They were at conference though, plugging away like nothing happened.

 

[RocketMedic]

So going a bit deeper in this and in no particular order:

-Brad and Wren established a reputation as playboys and people whom did not fully and habitually answer questions about money.
-ESD11’s board enables this for many years, to the point of campaigning for their seats on “we won’t rock the boat”; which emboldens Creek.
-Transition to Koronis Revenue Solutions as the biller, a company owned and operated by Susan Nealy, spouse of Wren Nealy, reportedly a sole bid and replacing a competitor. Worse performance, more expensive. Don’t know why they were chosen.
- Private loans to CCEMS and officers thereof backed by ESD-funded collateral, murky titles to vehicles, allegations of loans taken out by Creek against buildings and land owned by ESD without the knowledge of ESD. Money is going missing at this point.
-Creek sues, a lot, to restrict accounting efforts by ESD and commissions their own “investigation”, which is unsatisfactory to ESD because Creek only permitted partial examinations.
-ESD flushes its toilet and replaces the pro-Creek no-boat-rockers, starts asking questions seriously.
-Creek doesn’t use ESD money allocated to Powerloads for Powerloads at all, is billing ESD for dispatchers used by other ESDs on their side business, and transitions to Maestro self-funded health coverage while continuing to pocket $ from ESD programmed for employee healthcare. Also, Creek gets blood.
-I get canned after asking where Powerloads are and rocking the boat.
-Creek spends 2019/20 fighting investigations at every turn.
-Fleet gets caught using ESD time, parts, fluids, space and equipment for a side business. Tony gets canned as the fall guy.
-Response times plummet, ESD starts withholding dollars based on lack of CCEMS compliance, Creek continues to not make all employee health payments as committed and stagnates fast. Brad leaves with a huge severance. Wren promotes.
-HCESD11 MHC bids go out, best and most expensive one is chosen, ESD11 goes all-in on a public service. Creek is issued notice of termination.
-A year long pity party and Creek goes deep on trying to apply their reputation to high performance/high volume IFT, while smudging everyone else in that very crowded market, and with a sun setting 911 primary operation. Most employees leave for ESD.
-Creek tries to convince seasoned IFT that a core of newish/super loyal urban medics accustomed to tiered generic EMS is the best solution for long distance fixed wing air clinical medicine and pulls it off. Allegedly. AirCare and GroundCare are their IFT trade names and they brag about successfully pivoting from 911 to IFT.
-Surprise holiday season purge of 70% of remaining employees, most of whom defiantly burned ESD11 bridges in 2020 at the request of Wren.

 

[barrybecnel707]

Update on Cypress Creek - may be old news now. The IFT business plan did not work. On May 31, 2022 all of the employees were laid off and the company went into liquidation. There is a skeleton crew of employees who were hired by the bankruptcy court that are winding down the business. The stations and ambulances have all been sold and the administrative offices will be soon. A consortium of fire departments put in a bid to purchase the admin/communications building and a rival bid from a private IFT company, City Ambulance was submitted. It should be done with in the next few weeks. RIP Cypress Creek EMS.

 

[DrParasite]

Wow... and to think, they were originally viewed as one of the premier EMS agencies in the US...

https://cypresscreekems.com/

 

[MMiz]

Thanks for the update!

It will be interesting to see what Wren Nealy, Brian Gillman, and Levon Vartanian do next.

 

[TransportJockey]

Thanks for the update!

It will be interesting to see what Wren Nealy, Brian Gillman, and Levon Vartanian do next.

Whatever they do it won't be out here. Their names are mud in the EMS community down here.

 

[barrybecnel707]

From what I have been told by others, Brian went back into sales. Dr. V wasn't full time nor did he depend on CCEMS to pay his bills. No one that I know has heard from Wren in months.

One thing I forgot to mention. Just before the liquidation order there was an offer from J&J realty and the "Texas Helping Hearts Foundation" to obtain most of the assets including Five Forks and the ambulance assets. Doing a little research and you may find that the THHF is connected with Steve Crosby and Susan Nealy who I have been told are the co-owners of Koronis. I always thought someone would try to buy the assets and re create CCEMS. ESD11 and other creditors objected and the J&J/THHF offer was withdrawn.

https://www.corporationwiki.com/Texas/Huffman/steve-cosby/36983361.aspx

 

[RocketMedic]

Creek is a great example of moral gravity and exemplifies why one shouldn’t lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do.

 

[RocketMedic]

I think Brian might have ended up with those weird Medical Jets dudes out of Forney, saw him in a “tactical event rescue paramedics” post on their fb. Weird stuff indeed.

 

[aquabear]

an interesting saga…

 

[DrParasite]

It will be interesting to see what Wren Nealy, Brian Gillman, and Levon Vartanian do next.

According to his LinkedIn profile (https://www.linkedin.com/in/wrennealyjr/), Wren Nealy is doing the following:

• Director, Board Of DirectorsDirector, Board Of Directors
  International Association of EMS Chiefs (IAEMSC)International Association of EMS Chiefs (IAEMSC)Nov 2018 - Present · 4 yrs 2 mosNov 2018 - Present · 4 yrs 2 mosWashington D.C. Metro AreaWashington D.C. Metro Area
  
  • • • Recognized for facilitating and changing the state law in Indiana which included testifying before their House and working with former Governor Pence to sign legislation allowing police officers to perform life-saving skills with the proper training.• Recognized for facilitating and changing the state law in Indiana which included testifying before their House and working with former Governor Pence to sign legislation allowing police officers to perform life-saving skills with the proper training.
• 
  Director Board Of DirectorsDirector Board Of Directors
  International Public Safety AssociationInternational Public Safety AssociationMar 2015 - Present · 7 yrs 10 mosMar 2015 - Present · 7 yrs 10 mosGlendale, ArizonaGlendale, Arizona
  
  • • • Member at large representing EMS
      • Serve on the bylaws, events, membership/outreach, rescue task force, and TEMS Committees
      
      
      Join the IPSA and effect change! http://www.joinipsa.org• Member at large representing EMS • Serve on the bylaws, events, membership/outreach, rescue task force, and TEMS Committees Join the IPSA and effect change! http://www.joinipsa.org
• 
  Vice Chair - Emergency Services Sector Coordinating Council (ESSCC)Vice Chair - Emergency Services Sector Coordinating Council (ESSCC)
  U.S. Department of Homeland SecurityU.S. Department of Homeland SecurityMar 2016 - Present · 6 yrs 10 mosMar 2016 - Present · 6 yrs 10 mosWashington D.C. Metro AreaWashington D.C. Metro Area
  
  • • • National Protection and Program Directorate, Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council
      • The Emergency Services Sector (ESS) is a system of prevention, protection, preparedness, response, and recovery
      • events.
      • Function in a managerial capacity for daily sector activities and report to the chair and represent the chair as needed
      • Coordinate activities with the SSA and EMR-ISAC staff.
      • National Protection and Program Directorate, Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council • The Emergency Services Sector (ESS) is a system of prevention, protection, preparedness, response, and recovery • events. • Function in a managerial capacity for daily sector activities and report to the chair and represent the chair as needed • Coordinate activities with the SSA and EMR-ISAC staff. …see more
• https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?keywords=Triple+Threat+Solutions+TX
  Chief Executive OfficerChief Executive Officer
  Triple Threat Solutions TXTriple Threat Solutions TXNov 2014 - Present · 8 yrs 2 mosNov 2014 - Present · 8 yrs 2 mos5330 Spring Cypress Spring, TX 773795330 Spring Cypress Spring, TX 77379
  
  • • • Provide training, consulting, and support services for public safety with a focus on surviving high threat incidents
      • Handle all facets of operations, marketing, curriculum development and implementation while maintaining educational accreditation
      • Lead instructor for law enforcement and EMS training and public speaker on public safety topics
      • Evaluate programs and recommend improvement processes and developmental programs

As for Brian Gillman, he's working as a Southwest Sales Representative at Pharmacal Research Labs, a role he has held for several decades https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-gillman-1a54233/ while Levon Vartanian is still working as an ER physician at several ERs in texas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/levon-vartanian-a210622b/

 

[RocketMedic]

Brian, Samuel, Joe Kiff and most of the loyalists are good people who just caught themselves up in lies and dreams. Wren, Brad and a select few others look to have perpetuated those lies.