Bob Hess, longtime general manager of Wayland Area Emergency Services (WAEMS) is retiring this summer and two female paramedics are sharing his leadership duties.

The new co-directors are Brenda Mays and Kathy Veldhouse. Brenda Mays will be the general manager and Veldhouse will be the medical officer

Hess has been with WAEMS since the spring of 1982. During his tenure the ambulance cooperative has been upgraded from a limited service to advanced. The service has grown in coverage to include the City of Wayland, the townships of Dorr, Leighton, Salem, Monterey, Hopkins, Orangeville, Yankee Springs, Watson, Martin and the Gun Lake Casino.

WAEMS become a Certified Educational Facility in 1999.WAEMS is a full-service provider of medical first-response services, paramedic transport and education, with more than 120 volunteers who donate more than 2,880 hours per month to provide ambulance transport.

While they are volunteers, they are reimbursed hourly for the calls they go on, donating their time waiting for calls, Hess said.

WAEMS also provides three ambulances 24/7 with an office truck being the added truck during office hours.

WAEMS transports patients in an area from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo. They take patients to Holland Hospital, Spectrum Health Zeeland Community Hospital, Metro Health Hospital, Spectrum Health Butterworth and Blodgett hospitals, Mercy Health St. Mary’s, Pennock Hospital in Hastings, Allegan General, Borgess-Pipp in Plainwell and Bronson and Borgess hospitals.

WAEMS is a full-service provider of medical first-response services, paramedic transport and education, with more than 120 volunteers who donate more than 2,880 hours per month to provide ambulance transport. It was started in 1975 and now serves 12 area townships and the Gun Lake Casino.

WAEMS is a nontaxable governmental authority. It was created by the townships of Salem, Dorr, Leighton, Monterey, Hopkins, Wayland, Watson, Orangeville and the city of Wayland. It services all of those areas including Holland and the Gun Lake Casino and tribal lands that have been put into trust.

WAEMS is funded through patient billings, memberships, and local government subsidies, along with donations.