By David Fleet
Editor
Atlas Twp.- On Monday night during the township board of trustees meeting, Kolby Miller, chief executive officer for Medstar Ambulance provided an overview of a proposed agreement for service to the township and the Village of Goodrich.
“We know that the EMS system in Genesee County has had some challenges at some time over the past years,” said Miller.
Due to low call volume, Goodrich and Atlas Township depend on nearby private ambulance services from Grand Blanc and Davison in case of emergency. As a result, response times in emergency situations have been a concern for local officials for many years.

An established ambulance service continues to be an issue for the township and village. On Feb. 1, 2016, Mobile Medical Response or MMR, announced they would locate an ambulance 24 hours a day, seven days per week at 8389 S. State Road, just south of downtown Goodrich. By July 2019, about 30 months later that EMS unit was relocated. MMR officials said that while the unit might not be in Goodrich stationed 24 per day, it is strategically located in the community and able to respond. The calls had dropped to less than two per day, with a need of about three required to be profitable, company officials said.
Miller said that Medstar has a plan for the township, that shares resources with other communities at no additional cost to the residents.
At 5:30 p.m., Aug. 26, Medstar Ambulance Service will provide an informational workshop with the township and the Village of Goodrich at the township offices 7386 S. Gale Road.
Medstar is a non-profit agency owned by Ascension-Michigan, Henry Ford Health System, and McLaren Health Care serving 911 communities throughout the state.
“We have proposed service agreements with communities in the southern part of the county,” said Miller. “Based on response time performance, safety matrix, patient satisfaction feedback, local engagement and accountability.”
The City of Davison, Davison Township, Richfield Township, and the City of Burton have signed agreements. The proposal for Medstar Ambulance will be discussed by the Genesee County 9-1-1 Authority on Sept. 14.
“We believe by using our resources better, by spacing (ambulances) out across communities that are committed to our services, we can improve response time, clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction and certainly improve the engagement of local leadership,” said Miller.
The status right now is Medstar is waiting on the Genesee County 911 Authority to recognize the fact some communities that service agreements are a way to enhance 911 service in their communities, and they would like to do that, Miller added
“I can attest that going back to 2010 how our community has suffered from lack of ambulance coverage in our community,” said Shirely Kautman-Jones, township supervisor. “I understand that it’s where the customers are, is where we end up.”