Trustees receive Medstar update

MACOMB TOWNSHIP — The Macomb Township Board of Trustees met and received an update on emergency medical services from Medstar CEO and President Kolby Miller on Jan. 21. 

Miller’s presentation covered Medstar’s work in 2025, going over data specific to both Macomb Township and overall operations. 

Medstar had over 6,370 calls to the township in 2025, the majority being for illness-related medical runs, with over 900 calls made. Difficulty breathing and falls were the two next most common calls. The majority of calls elicited an emergency response from Medstar (3,188 emergency responses versus 3,186 nonemergency responses). Of those calls, most resulted in a nonemergency transport (3,679) while 341 required emergency transport and 2,354 were canceled either by a patient or as a result of related circumstances. 

The average emergency response time is 5 minutes and 34 seconds.

One issue noted by Miller were “lift assist” calls from nursing homes and similar facilities, where 911 calls would be made by staff in order to have paramedics and firefighters handle lifting patients that have fallen. The township itself addressed this issue of having the Macomb Township Fire Department’s resources tied up by facilities by passing a 911 cost recovery ordinance in March 2025. Township Supervisor Frank Viviano said that has led to a “dramatic decrease” in calls. However, he said the for-profit care facilities are still managing to request Fire Department resources for lifts by “using different descriptions of the problem.”

Miller said Medstar is working on addressing the issue with its own program.

“We’re trying to build internal structure within our organization to follow the same,” Miller said. “We never want to discourage somebody from calling 911 because the minute their belly starts hurting and it’s an (abdominal aortic aneurysm) and not an upset tummy, we don’t want to not go on that call. But for the people that say, ‘Come get my husband out of the car and move him onto his scooter so he can drive up to the house,’ and (the caller) calls 911 for that, we’ll be dispatched … We’re trying to develop internal programs where we can certainly provide a couple of community benefit calls, but if it goes beyond that (we can) generate some billing. Not to be punitive, but we’re using our resources in a way that consumes resources (and) that will certainly be a deterrent.”

Miller highlighted several programs Medstar offers, such as the Knock and Check program where Medstar can have paramedics meet with frequent 911 callers for wellness checks. Community Response Training sees Medstar provide free training to community groups in CPR and using automated external defibrillators; using anti-overdose medication like Narcan; how to stop major bleeding, and more. Miller also took particular pride in describing Medstar’s whole blood program, which allows Medstar to perform blood transfusions outside of hospital settings during trauma and medical calls where heavy bleeding is expected.

 

DTE agreement
Trustees also approved an updated purchase agreement with DTE Energy for the township’s LED street light conversion project. 

Originally approved in September 2024, the project is now completed — but not as expected.

“During that process, DTE’s contractor discovered that there were a number of lights — 300 or more — that were already converted,” Macomb Township Land Development Director Jim Van Tiflin said. “What this amended agreement does is recognize that there weren’t as many lights that needed to be converted, and the township is going to get some money back that was already programmed back for that purpose.”

The township will receive around $18,000 from DTE. The electric company will also replace 15 light poles in subdivisions for free. The 15 poles did not have LED lights that could be fitted into them, and DTE will switch them out with poles that fit current LED light stock.

 

26 Mile and Hayes
Trustees also approved an agreement with the Macomb County Department of Roads to share the cost of improvements to be made at the 26 Mile Road and Hayes Road intersection.

The county received a $750,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation to widen the intersection to include a left turn lane and traffic signal, with Macomb Township agreeing to a 16.6% share of the cost at $83,332. Other communities sharing the cost include Shelby and Washington townships. Ray Township was recognized as not having the proper resources to pay for the work at this time.