At Wednesday's County Board meeting, Board Chair Eric Blakeley shared he will be convening an ambulance service subcommittee to begin reviewing the county's take-over of ambulance services for McDonough County when the newly revised agreement between McDonough District Hospital (MDH) and Lifeguard expires next year. MDH will no longer provide ambulance services, effective April 30, 2027.
MDH CEO Bill Murdock, County Board Chair Eric Blakeley and Macomb Mayor Mike Inman met with Macomb Lifeguard staff last week to discuss how to keep ambulance services operating in the county. At the follow-up meeting, MDH verbally agreed to enter into a new one-year contract with Lifeguard, effective May 1. According to Murdock, MDH is providing a subsidy of around $180,000 for the new one-year term, which mirrors the contract that was previously place with Lifeguard before Chief Nursing Officer Wayne Laramie negotiated the new five-year contract. After the year is up, MDH will step away from providing a subsidy for ambulance services.
In late March, MDH notified Lifeguard that the hospital was terminating the ambulance service's contract effective May 3, 2026, just five months after a new five-year contract with Lifeguard went into effect. The contract that was negotiated would have cost MDH $600,000/year or $3.1 million over the course of five years, up from the previous $180,000/year the hospital had been paying Lifeguard. Murdock told The Community News Brief in an interview following the announcement that the new contract was not sustainable.
During the public comment portion of Wednesday night's meeting, MDH Board of Directors member David Garner spoke, stating he was there to address 'misstatements from the board chair that were reported.' Garner told the board that the MDH board has been a part of all discussions regarding Lifeguard, and that MDH board members have full access to hospital administration at any time to address questions and concerns. Garner also refuted Blakeley's quote that MDH wants the entire ambulance service off its campus. Blakeley clarified following Wednesday's meeting that during the April 7 meeting between MDH, Lifeguard, the county and the city, the hospital CEO confirmed that MDH will not house ambulance services on its campus at the end of its one-year agreement.
In his closing remarks, Garner told the County Board that the hospital has approved a lease for the county's new 911 center on its campus in Health Services Building 2.
'I'm not sure where the financial ball was dropped, but we (the MDH Board) look forward to a financial resolution with the county,' Garner said.
Blakeley announced following Garner's comments that the county's 911 and Communications Board, of which Blakeley is a member, has placed a 60-day hold on the move to the MDH campus due to the 'instability' at the hospital.
'At this time, we don't want to sink $3 million into a project that could possibly be a headache down the road. We just want to see a little more stability at the hospital and let the dust settle a bit,' Blakeley said following the meeting. 'We're not canceling the project; we're just putting it on hold to reevaluate if the MDH campus is the right location for this. We've outgrown the current center and we need a larger facility.'
In other business, the Board approved bridge fund projects for Emmet Township Road District and Township Road District #1; revised wind and solar ordinances; the purchase of new financial software from Software Solutions at a cost of $147,650 to replace nearly 30-year-old software; and for an additional FY26 budget appropriation of $145,000 for initial software purchase costs.
The Board reappointed members of the Good Hope-Sciota Fire Protection District to three-year terms (Clarence Waldinger, Dustin Thompson and Josh Buchen), and appointed Kyle Rhoads and Evan Wisely to a two-year and three-year term, respectively.
Edgar Rodriguez, the director of the county's Emergency and Disaster Services Agency (ESDA), told the board that ESDA is pursuing a FEMA Building Resilience grant to upgrade the county's 18 emergency/ storm sirens, some of which date back to the 40s and 50s. Rodriguez told the CNB that it will cost approximately $1 million for the update, and the grant will cover roughly 80 percent, while the remaining 20 percent will come from municipalities.
Blakeley also told the full board that District #3 Board Member Jack Lowderman has tendered his resignation from the County Board. Blakeley will seek a replacement to fill Lowderman's seat. He was first elected to the Board in 2024.
“I want to thank Jack Lowderman for his time and contributions to the County Board,” Blakeley told the CNB. “He had valuable knowledge and history on various issues the board worked with. We wish him good luck in his retirement.”
