A new EMS authority serving four northwest Wexford County townships was hoping to be up and running by the start of July, but instead, negotiations are continuing.
LAKE CITY â Missaukee County EMS is finding itself overextended by providing mutual aid ambulance services to Wexford County.
Mutual Aid services are commonly established to allow either county to help the other out when needed. Wexford County had an agreement with North Flight, now superseded by Mobile Medical Response (MMR) to provide ambulance services to that county.
However, the merger has not been without its hiccups, which Missaukee EMS director Aaron Sogge believes are due to a staffing shortage at MMR.
Missaukee EMS has been asked to cover calls at a rate that is no longer financially viable for the department, Sogge said. He said calls for Advanced Life Support and Basic Life Support are routinely called off. When they are called off it results in non-billable calls and costs for Missaukee staff overtime, fuel, vehicle maintenance and other expenses.