(1) Each hospital licensed under part 215 and each freestanding surgical outpatient facility licensed under part 208 that operates a service for treating emergency patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and meets standards established by medical control authority protocols shall be given the opportunity to participate in the ongoing planning and development activities of the local medical control authority designated by the department and shall adhere to protocols for providing services to a patient before care of the patient is transferred to hospital personnel, to the extent that those protocols apply to a hospital or freestanding surgical outpatient facility. The department shall designate a medical control authority for each Michigan county or part of a county, except that the department may designate a medical control authority to cover 2 or more counties if the department and affected medical control authorities determine that the available resources would be better utilized with a multiple county medical control authority. In designating a medical control authority, the department shall assure that there is a reasonable relationship between the existing emergency medical services capacity in the geographical area to be served by the medical control authority and the estimated demand for emergency medical services in that area.

    (2) A medical control authority shall be administered by the participating hospitals. A medical control authority shall accept participation in its administration by a freestanding surgical outpatient facility licensed under part 208 if the freestanding surgical outpatient facility operates a service for treating emergency patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week determined by the medical control authority to meet the applicable standards established by medical control authority protocols. Subject to subsection (4), the participating hospitals shall appoint an advisory body for the medical control authority that shall include, at a minimum, a representative of each type of life support agency and each type of emergency medical services personnel functioning within the medical control authority’s boundaries.

    (3) With the advice of the advisory body of the medical control authority appointed under subsection (2), a medical control authority shall appoint a medical director of the medical control authority. The medical director shall be a physician who is board certified in emergency medicine by a national organization approved by the department, or who practices emergency medicine and is certified in both advanced cardiac life support and advanced trauma life support by a national organization approved by the department, and who meets other standards set forth in department rules. The medical director is responsible for medical control for the emergency medical services system served by the medical control authority.

    (4) No more than 10% of the membership of the advisory body of a medical control authority shall be employees of the medical director or of an entity substantially owned or controlled by the medical director.

    (5) A designated medical control authority shall operate in accordance with the terms of its designation.

    (6) Each life support agency and individual licensed under this part is accountable to the medical control authority in the provision of emergency medical services, as defined in protocols developed by the medical control authority and approved by the department under this part.