A proposed state law offers new hope for the proposed $303 million McLaren hospital in Independence Township.
State Sen. Randy Richardville, Republican senate majority leader from Monroe, introduced Bill 1037 last week to change certificate-of-need rules.
The certificate-of-need process, created by the state to prevent increased health care costs through unneeded beds, is overseen by 11 commissioners appointed by the governor. All members of the committee are in the medical profession.
McLaren has requested moving 200 beds from the McLaren hospital in Pontiac, now staffed for about 100 of the 335 beds the facility is licensed for.
Under current certificate-of-need rules, hospitals can only transfer beds within a two mile radius of licensed and staffed facilities.
Bill 1037 would allow McLaren the ability to transfer the beds to a radius of eight miles. The move to Clarkston would be 7.6 miles.
A Senate Government Operations Committee is expected to hold a hearing sometime this week over the proposed change, if an exception should be made and the bill forwarded onto the Gov. Rick Snyder. Craine’s Detroit Business reported there is an indication that Snyder as well as the legislature is leaning towards supporting the change for McLaren.
Richardville’s bill stipulates if McLaren is granted approval to move the beds, the hospital must provide $10 million is free care to patients at the Pontiac location, retain staff for a minimum of 70 beds and provide education and job training in Pontiac.
McLaren’s Vice President of Public Relations Kevin Tompkins said there is a need to move the beds to Independence Township because there is less of a need for beds in Pontiac these days due to a decreasing population.
However, McLaren proponents like CEO Jack Weiner of St. Josephs Mercy Oakland in Pontiac said McLaren is just looking at Independence Township because it is a more affluent area than Pontiac.
Tompkins and Director of Planning Greg Dobis said McLaren has financial goals to meet, and their competitors just don’t want to see a new hospital.
‘You don’t see Walgreens or CVS telling other stores they cannot build,? said Dobis. ‘If another CVS or Walgreens is constructed, the prices go down at the other store. Competition fosters an increase in competition and quality.?
Tomkins said the bottom line is the Independence Township area presents an increasing demand for a hospital in part due to a large increase in the aging population of the area which is expected to explode in upcoming years.
Proponents, backed by a study by Michigan State University, say there are already too many hospital beds in the state.
A study funded by a grant to MSU by the MDCH, concluded there are 835 excess hospital beds in a group of several hospitals in Oakland County.
In the entire state of Michigan, there were 7,000 excess beds. The study also concluded building a McLaren in Independence Township would raise health care costs. The court system agreed, there was no need for another hospital.
After McLaren’s request was denied twice under certificate-of-need by the Michigan Department of Community Health in 2012, the decision was upheld by the Oakland County Circuit Court.
No matter how many times they are turned down, the McLaren reps ensure the hospital will be a sure thing at some point.
Dobis and Tompkins said similar endeavors have been successful and referenced legislative changes that allowed beds to be transferred from a Detroit facility to two new hospitals in Novi and West Bloomfield.
‘Those hospitals had a huge positive economical benefit to the areas,? said Tompkins. ‘Building the hospital in this area is the right thing to do based on our research.”
After considering several areas of Oakland County to determine the best area for a new hospital, the Independence Township area was the area in most need. Initial plans for the medical campus were first announced in 2006. There is still a long ways to go and even if plans were approved for the hospital tomorrow, the project would take years to complete.
Tompkins said the medical campus would be enormous and also feature an assisted living center, special cardiovascular care, a large cancer center, a medical office building with dozens of specialists, a pharmacy, eye care facility, a surgery center, ambulatory space and other facilities for special procedures.
Dobis, as well as Independence Township officials said building the facility would rake in high paying union jobs during a time when similar jobs are moving out of state.
‘At the end of the day, we are investing in Independence Township,” said Tompkins. ‘We are not giving up we already have too much invested.”
In addition to a willingness to spend over $300 million to build the facility, the hospital has already contributed $1.5 million for road improvements to Sashabaw and 1-75.
Independence Township Supervisor Pat Kittle said in addition to the jobs, the hospital would exponentially stimulate new and existing development in the area.