Pella Community Ambulance has a new director.

Greg Higginbotham, currently the Deputy Chief of Knoxville Fire and Rescue, will begin his leadership role at Pella Ambulance February 5th. Higginbotham tells KNIA/KRLS News he looks forward to serving the community and bolstering the service for all.

“When I heard the Pella Community Ambulance position came open, it was perfect timing for me,” he says. “It was at a time where I was ready to be either a chief or director somewhere, and this just happened to be in our backyard.”

“It’s a place I’m familiar with, because we’ve come over here and helped out in Pella quite a bit, and being a lifelong resident of Marion County, I know the county well, so I felt the transition over here would be almost perfect for what my background has.”

Pella Community Ambulance has been without a director since August, when Laura Clanton resigned from the position. Members of the Pella Community Ambulance board, as well as their paramedics and volunteers, have all assumed additional responsibilities in the interim. Board President Steve Schemm tells KNIA/KRLS News they were able to maintain services while taking their time to make the right hire.

“The Board of Directors has had to step in and get a little bit more involved, but in reality, the folks that are the full-time paramedics and volunteers have done a great deal to take on different tasks and moving things forward, making sure the calls were being signed up for and that we were staffed properly,” Schemm says.

Higginbotham has been the deputy chief of Knoxville Fire and Rescue since 2010, and also served previously as an interim chief. Schemm says Higginbotham’s experience in that department and as a coach, as well as his familiarity with the area were all key factors that led to his hire.

Higginbotham eventually plans to move his family to Pella to better serve in the director position.