Lansing Lines is presented in cooperation with MIRS, a Lansing-based news and information service.
Hospitals In Low Population Counties Could Become Non-Profits Under Bill
A Sen. Wayne A. Schmidt (R-Traverse City) bill allowing qualifying county hospitals to convert to non-profit designations heard testimony before the House Health Policy Committee and was voted out unanimously.
SB 1055 , which passed the Senate unanimously in June, was passed out of committee 18-0 after Schmidt testified in favor.
The bill would amend the Municipal Health Facilities Corporations Act to allow Helen Newberry Joy Hospital and Healthcare Center in Luce County to restructure as a nonprofit.
The county hospital is a 25-bed critical access facility that has been providing ancillary out-patient and surgical services since 1965, in addition to operating four rural health clinics and a 39-bed long-term care unit.
In recent years, the hospital has struggled to respond to a changing healthcare landscape and seek certain forms of grant funding, said Hunter Nostrant, who testified in support of the bill on behalf of HNJH.
The change in designation would allow more seamless future affiliations and partnerships, he said.
HNJH isn’t the first hospital to change their designation in Michigan, with several 2016 amendments to the Act allowing public health corporations in Mecosta, Alpena and Branch counties to restructure and partner with entities incorporated under the Nonprofit Corporation Act, according to the Senate fiscal analysis.
But Schmidt’s Senate bill would amend the Act further to allow the board of trustees of a county hospital to restructure, if it is located in a county with a population between 5,000 and 7,000.
According to the 2020 U.S. Census, only Luce and Ontonagon Counties have a population to qualify, and hospitals in those counties would have until June 30, 2024 to restructure.
Before the bill saw a vote, Adam Carlson with the Michigan Hospital Association submitted a card in favor. No one opposed the bill during testimony.
Other bills that were voted out of committee included Rep. Andrew Fink (R-Hillsdale)’s HB 6380 , which would allow financially struggling hospitals to apply for a “rural emergency hospital” designation and receive federal relief.
The bill was supported by Marnie Triemstra with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, and it was voted out unanimously with a H-1 substitute.
Sen. Jim Stamas (R-Midland)’ SB 450 would prohibit a Department of Health and Human Services director from issuing an emergency order that stopped or limited a patient representative from visiting a patient or resident in a care facility.
The bill, which would still allow a limit on the number of visitors allowed, passed the Senate in May, 33-0.
It was voted out of committee unanimously.
The final bill that received a vote was Sen. Curtis VanDerwallVANDERWALL (R-Ludington)’s SB 811 , which would extend the temporary licensure of speech-language pathologists from 12 to 24 months and add the ability for one or more six-month extensions.
The bill, which passed the Senate 38-0, was also voted out of committee unanimously.
All four bills now await action on the House floor.
Abortion-Related Initiatives Won Here And Elsewhere
For the first time, voters in five states, including Michigan, decided whether to amend their state constitutions to protect abortions rights.
In Michigan, Proposal 3 passed 56.7% to 43.3% with all 83 counties reporting their unofficial results to the Secretary of State.
The proposal becomes part of the Constitution on Dec. 23 – rendering Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban unenforceable.
“No longer will decisions made by women and their families concerning their reproductive health be subject to the whims of politicians,” said Summer Foster, a representative of Reproductive Freedom for All, which spearheaded the initiative. “Reproductive freedom is a guaranteed right for all in Michigan for generations to come.”
The measures to regulate reproductive health became a priority in some states after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June. The 1973 ruling legalized abortion.
In the other states:
– With 42% of the polls reporting, California residents have voted 65% to 35% to adopt Proposition 1, which would add the right to abortion and contraceptive use to the state constitution, according to poll results posted by the Los Angeles Times.
– In Kentucky, residents defeated Constitutional Amendment 2, which would have eliminated the right to an abortion from the state constitution, 52.4% to 47.6%.
– Montana’s Legislative Referendum 131 appears on the verge of failure with 70% of the precincts reporting. The Montana Free Press reported that 52% of voters opposed the initiative, but neither the Associated Press nor national media outlets had called it yet. If approved, the referendum, Born-Alive Infant Protection Act, would criminalize health care providers who do not attempt life-saving care when an abortion results in a live birth, a very rare circumstance.
– Vermont voters approved Proposal 5, which would create a constitutional right to personal reproductive autonomy, 77.2% to 22.8%.
Catholic Vote Is Split On Proposal 3
The Catholic Church may be solidly opposed to Proposal 3 from a clerical perspective, but pre-election polling showed something different among the parishioners.
The latest Glengariff Group poll for The Detroit News and WDIV-4 has Catholics voting split down the middle at 48% for each side.
The numbers come as at least one priest at one of the Lansing Diocese’s largest churches described voting for Proposal 3 a “mortal sin,” which would require confession before being able to take communion again or go to heaven upon death.
“There’s been some peeling back of Catholic votes, but for all the money and political effort coming from the Catholic Church and the Catholic Conference, they have not moved their Catholic voters by much,” said Glengariff Group President Richard Czuba.
His findings showed 49.8% of the Catholic vote is a “definite yes.”
So why hasn’t the hierocracy been able to move the needle more?
First of all, the abortion issue is not exactly a new one for the bulk of parishioners who have had countless years of homilies drilling the evils of abortion into their heads. So many minds were made up well before the advent of Prop 3.
“The church has had a hard time turning their voters against the proposal because it is already baked into their minds what the Catholic Church thinks about this,” Czuba said. “They’ve been hearing it for decades and they’ve been disregarding it for decades frankly.”
Czuba draws a striking parallel to the vote on stem cell research in Michigan when the church strongly urged members to vote no. But the anti-campaign started with 52.7% of the electorate voting yes and it ended at the same number. In other words, the hard sell then by the church did not move the electorate because minds were already made up.
Given that history, the pollster observed that turning Proposal 3’s 55% positive vote around, “may be hard to do.”