CHIPPEWA COUNTY — An Upper Peninsula community is already facing decreased medical service after raising the alarm on delinquent payments last year.
Kinross EMS, which serves Chippewa County, is still out nearly half a million dollars due to nonpayment from a former state of Michigan contractor, which has since declared bankruptcy.
“The last few months, we’ve been pretty much living month to month on our funds that we have coming in and going out,” said Renee Gray, president of Kinross EMS.
The issue stems from Wellpath, a service that previously contracted with the state Department of Corrections to provide medical care for inmates.
Wellpath owes Kinross EMS around $430,000 for over 200 responses to the nearby Chippewa East Correctional Facility.
“Right now, it’s to the point where we only have about a month’s worth of operating, and we should have at least four months of operating to be safe,” Gray said.
Gray says the department has had to reduce from four crews to three. The department covers 650 square miles and receives about 2,000 service requests per year.
Gray says the service will expand to cover Detour Township later this year, further stressing the department’s already tight margins.
”There’s far too much run volume and service area to cover with only the three crews,” she said.
Angela Madden, president of the Michigan Association of Ambulance Services, says that disruption of service in any form can lead to issues for other patients waiting to receive care.
“Not being paid for the transports from a Department of Corrections facility greatly impacts that agency’s ability to respond to grandma’s cardiac arrest in her home at 4 a.m. the next day,” she said.
Madden says that medical services are required by Michigan law to respond to all emergency calls, regardless of the patient’s ability to pay or incarceration status.
“It must be the Legislature’s very first priority in 2025 when they return to work later this month,” Madden said. “There is absolutely no way agencies like Kinross or other small agencies can survive if they do not.”
Lawmakers did not address the situation before ending their 2024 session. Gray is hopeful that the Legislature will act quickly to cover their outstanding expenses.
“This is pretty much the only option at this point,” she said. “I don’t know how we can make up that kind of loss. We just don’t have the funds, the tax base or the run volume to do so.”
State Rep. Dave Prestin, who represents Kinross in the Legislature, says that he’s aware of the issues and is pushing for a legislative response.
“This is the state’s responsibility. This is the state’s debt. This was their contractor,” he said. “And as far as I’m concerned, the state’s liable for this.”
Lawmakers return to Lansing this week to start a new two-year legislative session.