By Nick Taylor
mlive.com
GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Grand Blanc Township is looking for ways to improve its EMS services amid concerns about wait times and exclusive contracts.
The township’s EMS services are provided through the Genesee County 911 Consortium, which includes a total of 31 municipalities.
“We need to act as aggressively as we can in bringing this issue to a head all over for all the people of Genesee County and particularly for our constituents here in Grand Blanc Township,” Clerk David Robertson said at a meeting this week.
The county’s EMS services are overseen by the Genesee County Medical Control Authority and county providers include Mobile Medical Response (MMR), MedStar Ambulance, and Patriot Ambulance Service.
“Our number one concern, obviously, is the health and safety of our residents, and really, it affects the whole county,” Township Supervisor and Genesee County 911 Consortium Board Vice President Scott Bennett told MLive-The Flint Journal. “It isn’t just our township that’s affected by this.”
Officials discussed the matter during the board’s May 27 meeting, in part to reiterate to newer board members the township’s opposition to exclusive EMS contracts.
The board considered an exclusive contract in 2022 with Medstar.
Township Superintendent Dennis Liimatta noted EMS providers lost employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, which negatively impacted these services in the township.
He also said the pandemic forced providers to pause training.
While he believes EMS services could be improved throughout the township, Liimatta said residents in rural areas experience longer wait times compared to other areas.
“We probably have 4,000 to 5,000 EMS calls for service every year in Grand Blanc Township, so we’re going to always have more available units because of the volume of business and the hospital,” he said.
The discussion regarding EMS services was also sparked by Grand Blanc Township resident and Genesee County Medical Control Authority Executive Director Bruce Trevithick, who raised concerns about the matter during the township board’s April meeting.
Liimatta said the township has received complaints about EMS wait times in the past as well.
“From June of last year through March of this year, there have been 930 instances in the county where Genesee County 911 has had to hold EMS calls because of a shortage of ambulances,” Trevithick said at the April meeting.
Trevithick asked board members to consider entering into an exclusive contract for EMS services.
“You’ve made a great commitment to public safety with police and fire. You need to do the same thing with emergency medical services,” he said.
Several residents expressed concerns at the board’s May meeting with EMS response times in the township and urged board members to pressure the county to address the issue.
“When you have a family member or a friend that needs an EMS response, arguing what’s most appropriate is irrelevant,” resident and licensed paramedic instruction coordinator Dominic Foster, who served on the Genesee County Medical Control Board, said. “Partner with these agencies to guarantee that those ambulances are there.”
However, the residents who commented on the matter, including Foster, noted they are opposed to exclusive EMS contracts.
“We will not be part of it in exclusive contract,” Patriot Ambulance and Swartz Ambulance Service President Jeff Yorke said. “The closest ambulance is always the fastest ambulance, and when a patient needs an ambulance, they don’t care who their municipality has a contract with.”
A total of 13 Genesee County municipalities have exclusive EMS contracts, including Atlas Township and Mundy Township.
The Mundy Township board voted 4-3 this month to continue an exclusive EMS contract, Bennett said.
Some township officials claimed these municipalities violated the Michigan Emergency 9-1-1 Service Enabling Act by entering into exclusive EMS contracts.
The township’s concern is backed up by the advice of its legal counsel, Fahey Schultz Burzych Rhodes , and Anthony Chubb , who’ve told the township that agreeing to such a contract would be in violation of the act.
Chubb also serves as the legal counsel for the Genesee County 911 consortium.
“I’ve never seen a legal opinion saying that this is the right thing to do,” Bennett said. “We want to work within the system to make change.”
Liimatta said these contracts violate the act because of the impact they have on the direct dispatch method through which the closest EMS provider to the area of an emergency is called to that scene.
However, this is not always the case because sometimes the closest EMS provider is under an exclusive contract with another municipality.
“We’re opposed to the dispatching based on anything other than what’s the closest EMS unit,” Bennett said. “We believe it’s morally and legally, not the thing to do.”
Some exclusive agreements also prevent officials in these municipalities from voting against future agreements with their contracted provider, Liimatta said.
Additionally, Robertson said the cost of exclusive contracts would likely be higher than the current amount the township pays for services throughout the county, noting the township would increase its chances of being sued.
“The liability exposure is for all consortium members, not just those who end up having liability because of their being a signatory to one of these contracts, but for all of us who are not signatories because we’re all part of the consortium,” he said at the township board’s May meeting.
Genesee County Commissioner Beverly Brown told the board that the county commissioned a study of the county’s 911 emergency system last year.
A report based on the study is expected to be complete this summer.
The board is expected to discuss the matter further during its June 10 meeting, which will be held at 6 p.m. at the Grand Blanc Township Government Center, located at 5371 S Saginaw St.
The agenda for the meeting will be available on the township’s website.
Liimatta and Bennett plan to meet with Trevithick sometime next week to discuss the matter, and they will return to the board afterward to report on the conversation.
“I think there are other alternatives that could be explored, but what we’re going to look at from a Grand Blanc Township standpoint is what do we need to do to provide the best service that we can possibly provide legally, safely and appropriately to the residents of Grand Blanc Township,” Liimatta said.
©2025 Advance Local Media LLC.
Visit mlive.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.