City of Burton Enters Into EMS Agreement With Medstar
The City of Burton announced today that it has entered into an agreement to provide consistent EMS service for its residents and visitors. The agreement is with Medstar, a not-for-profit EMS agency that serves several Michigan communities, and is identical to agreements the agency has with communities throughout lower Michigan.
“The delivery of EMS care in the City of Burton is an important part of my commitment to the highest level of services for residents and visitors,” Burton Mayor Duane Haskins said. “Medstar has a reputation for quality clinical care, patient satisfaction, and community accountability. I look forward to the consistency they will bring to our city, their partnership with our police and fire departments, and regular reporting to my office and our City Council.”
The agreement will be formally announced today at a Medical First Responder training program being held at the Burton Fire Department on Belsay Road. The news conference will be at 6 pm at Bentley High School, 1150 N Belsay Road in Burton. In the event of rain, the location will be Burton Fire Station Number 2, 1320 S. Belsay Road.
The ongoing training is provided by Medstar for all area fire departments providing emergency medical first responder service and included Medstar’s medical helicopter demonstrating landing zone safety and patient handling for critical trauma patients.
The City of Davison, Davison Township, and Richfield Township each signed service agreements with Medstar last week.
“The EMS system in Genesee County has been challenged with accountability and consistency for a long time,” said Brian Flewelling, Chief of the Davison-Richfield Fire Department. “Recent incidents have demonstrated the need for communities to secure accountable EMS service and the ability to have direct insight into how that service is provided. After evaluating Medstar’s performance in other communities, I’m confident our partnership will improve the care and service in the communities served by my department, as well as the engagement with our local leaders.”
“On behalf of the over 900 men and women who provide care and service every day throughout Michigan, we look forward to serving the communities represented here today,” said Kolby Miller, Medstar Chief Executive Officer. “My career began in Genesee County in 1988, and I’m proud to see Medstar working with local leaders to improve the EMS system today and into the future. Through local service agreements, we can deliver consistent resource deployment and coverage, as well as deeper integration with community and public safety leaders, without subsidy or financial risk from the communities served.”
Medstar is a not-for-profit organization owned by the McLaren Healthcare Corporation, Ascension-Michigan, and the Henry Ford Health System. The agency provides 911 EMS service for communities in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Lapeer, Bay, and Genesee counties, as well as critical care, air medical, and interfacility transport throughout the region. Medstar has been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) since 1998 and is one of only five EMS agencies in Michigan accredited by the Commission on the Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP.)
The service agreements are based on a response time reliability threshold of eight minutes, 59 seconds, which is the national standard for EMS performance agreements. Miller said that the 8:59 threshold generally produces between four- to six-minute average response times. The agreement also provides quarterly reporting response times, clinical data, safety metrics, and patient satisfaction survey results. The agreements provide direct communication with community leaders regarding any issues identified, community service programs, and education being offered within the communities served.
Medstar’s Genesee County headquarters is in Mundy Township, and ambulances will be positioned throughout the communities to ensure safe and appropriate response times. ”By deploying ambulances to cover contiguous sections of geography, rather than the center of high volume areas, we will improve response times in less populated areas, while ensuring safe and effective response times in the more populated cities or areas of townships,” Miller said.
About Medstar
Medstar is Michigan’s most integrated 911 EMS and mobile healthcare provider, serving more than 190,000 patients annually throughout lower Michigan. Created in 1993 by two local hospitals committed to quality EMS, the nonprofit agency serves communities in nine counties. Healthcare stakeholders include Ascension-Michigan, Henry Ford Health System, and the McLaren Healthcare Corporation. For more information, visit www.medstarambulance.org.
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Contact
Anne Hein
ahein@medstarambulance.org
586-980-1043