I attended the open meeting Wednesday, November 4, at the Mackinac County Courthouse with the Mackinac County commissioners to discuss the possibility of Mackinac County going it on its own as a health department and breaking away from LMAS Health Department. I think the commissioners are truly trying to best serve the needs of Mackinac County and would hope that county residents give them the benefit of the doubt on this endeavor. There have been problems with LMAS billing irregularities and reductions in services and the commissioners convinced me that they want to work through these problems. I was particularly concerned as a resident of the western end of Mackinac County and wanted to make sure the commissioners were aware that for some of us, St. Ignace is 60 and 70 miles away and the LMAS office in Newberry is much closer. The commissioners are well aware of the situation and will try and accommodate us. LMAS has cut so many services, that for us West Mackinac residents, it would be better to have some services coming out of St. Ignace, than no services coming out of Newberry. Chairperson Dawn Nelson did mention the possibility of a satellite office to better serve West Mackinac. Lets support the county commissioners on this issue. I think they are trying to do the best they can for Mackinac County.
Jim Ramelis
Gould City