Bad Axe & Thumb Peninsula Medical Supply Hub – M‑53 Wind & Ag Readiness
Bad Axe, Michigan anchors the medical lifeline for the Upper Thumb’s farm towns, wind corridors, and Lake Huron shorelines. Our LAC Health counter inside Walmart #1592 at 901 North Van Dyke Road keeps McLaren Thumb Region, Scheurer Health, Huron Medical Center, Harbor Beach Community Hospital, Huron County Medical Care Facility, Long Term Care Ombudsman programs, tribal clinics, EMS agencies, dairies, grain processors, and offshore wind service teams stocked without waiting on Saginaw or Detroit warehouses.
Within 35 miles are McLaren Thumb Region (Level III trauma), Scheurer Hospital/Clinics, Huron Behavioral Health, Sanilac and Tuscola county rural health networks, Port Austin EMS, Caseville seasonal clinics, DTE/Huron Wind, grain elevators, and Lake Huron harbors. Ice storms, wind turbine rescues, sugar beet harvests, Cheeseburger in Caseville festivals, and Great Lakes boating seasons require a “medical suppliers near me” counter hardened for remote mileage and shoreline weather—this Van Dyke Road hub was built for that purpose.
The Thumb’s heritage spans Anishinaabe trading routes, lumber booms, sugar beet cooperatives, and modern wind generation. LAC Health mirrors that resilience with generator-backed refrigeration, bilingual (English/Spanish) labeling for agricultural crews, Ojibwe translation access for tribal clinics, and ICS workflows aligned with Region 3 Healthcare Coalition, Huron County Emergency Management, and Coast Guard Sector Detroit.
Location & Access Information
LAC Health Thumb Peninsula Hub – Inside Walmart #1592
901 North Van Dyke Road (M‑53)
Bad Axe, Michigan 48413
ZIP Code 48413 (serving Bad Axe, Pigeon, Elkton, Cass City, Harbor Beach, Port Austin, Ubly, Kinde, Sebewaing, Owendale, and lakeshore villages along M‑25)
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Parking & Loading: Pull-through ambulance lane, grain-hauler-compatible dock, hazmat containment lockers, humidity-controlled cage, and redundant UPS powering the cold room.
Highway Access: Directly on M‑53; 10 miles to M‑142; 18 miles to M‑25 shoreline loop; 40 miles to US‑23; 60 miles to I‑75 (Bay City/Saginaw) via M‑25/US‑23 connectors.
Nearby Facilities: McLaren Thumb Region (1.5 mi), Scheurer Hospital (12 mi), Huron County EOC (1 mi), DTE Pinnebog Wind (15 mi), Huron County Expo Center (2 mi), Port Austin Harbor (24 mi).
Medical Supply Services Available
Healthcare & Rural Community Support
- Hospital/clinic replenishment for McLaren Thumb Region, Scheurer Hospital, Huron Medical Care Facility, Harbor Beach Community Hospital, Covenant outreach clinics, and tribal/urban Indian health programs.
- Telehealth & home-care kits for Visiting Nurse Services of Michigan, hospice agencies, PASSPORT waiver providers, and behavioral health teams covering Huron, Sanilac, and Tuscola counties.
- School and campus health supplies for Bad Axe Schools, Ubly, Harbor Beach, Lakers, Thumb Pride Academies, and Baker College/Delta College satellite cohorts.
- Public health surge caches for Huron County Health Department, Region 3 HCC, and Point of Dispensing (POD) exercises along the shoreline.
- Event medicine staging for Cheeseburger in Caseville, Bay Port Fish Sandwich Festival, Thumb Octagon Barn events, and Port Austin farmers markets.
- Long-term care support for extended care facilities in Port Hope, Caseville, Sebewaing, and Owendale with telemetry references for PointClickCare/MatrixCare.
EMS, Agriculture & Wind Energy Logistics
- ALS/BLS cache rotation for Central Huron Ambulance, Port Hope EMS, Sebewaing Light & Water EMS, Sanilac EMS, Thumb Regional Response Team, and Coast Guard Station Harbor Beach auxiliaries.
- OSHA/NIOSH programs for Michigan Sugar, Cooperative Elevator Company, DTE/Huron Wind, Consumers Energy, agriscience labs, and dairy processors.
- Cold-chain biologics, oncology regimens, neonatal meds, cardiac implants, and trauma blood products tracked via telemetry feeding Epic, Cerner, Meditech, and ESO.
- Device recall handling for ventilators, anesthesia carts, and telehealth tablets rotating among rural clinics, school-based health centers, and tribal programs.
- Hazmat courier swaps for ethanol plants, fertilizer depots, propane suppliers, and harbor fueling docks with bilingual documentation and ICS logs.
- Telehealth refurbishment and satellite-enabled monitoring kits for offshore wind crews, fishing fleets, and lighthouse/park rangers.
Meet the Thumb Peninsula Team
We’re staffed by rural hospital logisticians, agriscience safety officers, and volunteer firefighters from Huron and Sanilac counties.
Nancy Wroz
McLaren & Scheurer Liaison
Former director of materials at McLaren Thumb Region. Nancy now coordinates implants, infusion therapies, and dialysis rotations across Thumb hospitals and clinics.
Email: [email protected]
Lieutenant Colton Riemer
EMS & Wind Corridor Lead
Volunteer firefighter/paramedic for Pigeon Fire and Thumb Regional Response Team. He supervises ALS cache audits, turbine rescue kits, and ReadyOp alerts.
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Winona Peters
Community & Tribal Health Director
Anishinaabe public health physician and former tribal clinic medical director. She curates bilingual chronic disease kits, fisheries safety programs, and grant paperwork.
Email: [email protected]
How to Use This Counter
- Plan Around Lake-Effect Windows
Open 6:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m.; call +1-703-810-3898 to stage overnight pickups during blizzards, turbine repairs, or shoreline events.
- Present Credentials
Hospital/EMS badge, farm cooperative letter, tribal credential, or Coast Guard escort order ensures immediate release. Pre-clearance available via Huron County EOC.
- Seal Chain-of-Custody
Every tote receives barcode scans, temperature/humidity logs, tamper seals, and photo proof that feeds Epic, Cerner, ESO, ReadyOp, or state grant portals.
- Receive Thumb Alerts
Subscribe for SMS/email updates about MDOT 511 closures, Consumers Energy wind curtailments, Coast Guard marine advisories, and agricultural burn bans.
Coverage Footprint
Supports hospitals, EMS, tribal clinics, agriculture, wind energy, food processors, and tourism operations across Huron, Sanilac, Tuscola, Arenac, and Bay counties plus Lake Huron coastal villages.
Thumb Peninsula Heritage
Bad Axe communities rebuilt after the 1881 Thumb Fire, invested in WWII shipbuilding, and led today’s renewable energy economy. Recent ice storms, 2019 polar vortex outages, and pandemic surges proved the need for hardened local supply caches—LAC Health keeps that readiness within minutes of M‑53.
Regional Demographics
Population ~120,000 across the Upper Thumb with demographics of 92% White, 3% Hispanic/Latino, 2% Native American, 1% Black, 2% other. Employment mixes agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, tourism, and energy. Seasonal residents double traffic on M‑25—making localized supply staging essential.
Licensing & Compliance
Michigan Board of Pharmacy, DEA Schedule II–V, FDA/IRB logistics, Joint Commission/DNV, OSHA/NIOSH agriculture & wind standards, MEMA/Region 3 ICS/NIMS, HIPAA/HITECH, tribal business registrations, and Huron/Sanilac/Tuscola county vendor approvals.
Thumb Partners Speak
Average rating 4.95/5 from hospitals, EMS, cooperatives, and wind crews.
A trauma run and NICU transport launched during a whiteout. LAC Health sealed implants and neonatal meds with telemetry before our courier left the dock.
✓ Verified
Blowing snow closed M‑25. LAC Health rotated ALS boxes overnight and pushed documentation into ESO before we cleared the bay.
✓ Verified
Harvest season brings 24/7 crews. LAC Health bundles OSHA kits by facility, logs humidity, and uploads compliance evidence to our GRC portal.
✓ Verified
Fourth of July crowds were stacked across Caseville beaches. LAC Health labeled trauma and hydration kits by shoreline sector and restocked them nightly.
✓ Verified
Turbine climbs require specialized rescue bags. LAC Health seals them per tower, tracks inspection tags, and stores extras in their humidity-controlled cage.
✓ Verified
We needed three rural PODs and one lakeshore clinic within 12 hours. LAC Health had bilingual manifests, refrigeration logs, and courier escorts ready.
✓ Verified
