Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Regional Emergency Assets topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Richland emergency physician tells commissioners equipment removed from MSU 3 and usable PPE was discarded
Summary
At the July 15 meeting, emergency physician Josh Massebrook told commissioners the Region 5 Healthcare Coalition removed equipment from MSU 3 at Comstock Fire Station without fire or hospital knowledge and that pandemic PPE stored regionally was moved and partially discarded; county administration said it will investigate and follow up.
During public comment at the July 15 Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners meeting, Dr. Josh Massebrook, an emergency physician from Richland, raised concerns about the handling of two regional medical assets.
Massebrook described a county asset known as Medical Support Unit 3 (MSU 3), a mobile unit housed at Comstock Fire Station used for rehabilitation, patient support and mass-casualty response. He said the Region 5 Healthcare Coalition and a coordinator presented themselves to the station in May and removed most of the equipment from MSU 3 "without the knowledge" of the coalition planning board, the hospital or the fire department.
“The vehicle is stocked with equipment made specifically for MCIs… The unfortunate thing is that the coalition and specifically the coordinator presented themselves to Comstock Fire Station, back in May, and removed most of the equipment from the vehicle without the knowledge… of the fire department,” Massebrook said.
Massebrook also alleged the coalition separated fiduciary control to Muskegon County during the pandemic and, in that process, moved supplies from a regional warehouse and discarded a large amount of PPE that he said was not expired. He asked why usable supplies were not redistributed to local agencies or used for training.
Administrator Catlin acknowledged the comment on the coalition and said county staff had already met before the meeting and would follow up with emergency management director James and with the doctor to better understand the concerns and lend help where appropriate.
The meeting transcript contains no immediate rebuttal from Region 5 or hospital officials; the county committed to follow up and report back.
