A bill to authorize a special exemption to state Certificate Of Need requirements, which would allow construction of a McLaren hospital, was discharged from committee on Nov. 12 and sent to the state senate.
Meanwhile, Independence Township Supervisor Pat Kittle has been pounding the pavement gathering support for a new $300 million hospital on Sashabaw Road.
Kittle attended a variety of meetings collecting resolutions supporting the facility, which if built, the Oakland County Economic Development Team projected would have an economical impact on the county of $600 to $800 million.
He plans to take the resolutions and letters of support to Lansing and place them on the seat of every senator and representative.
‘The professionals in the greater North Oakland Community responsible for the health, safety and welfare of the 100,000 residents would be positively affected by the approval of the McLaren Hospital in Independence Township,” Kittle said.
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson also supports the hospital as part of a Medical Main Street plan, which was created to diversify Oakland County to include more medical services.
Supporters include Oakland County Association of Township Supervisors, Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce, Clarkston Community Schools, Independence Township Senior Advisory Board, Waterford Fire Department and Police, North Oakland County Mutual Aid Fire Association and City of the Village of Clarkston.
During its construction over a three-year period, over 700 jobs would be created to build the medical campus off Sashabaw and Bow Pointe. After completion, the facility would create about 1,300 high paying jobs in the medical field with an annual payroll of about $68 million.
Kittle also cited studies and reports contradicting opposition to the hospital.
Throughout the fight to build the hospital, his position and support for McLaren has not changed, he said.
‘In my opinion, our community of 36,000 people with a neighboring community of more than 100,000 residents needs a level 2 trauma center,? Kittle said.
It would also be good for the entire area, he added.
About 190 acres of underdeveloped property along the Sashabaw Road Corridor would also grow exponentially, which would create another estimated 3,000 jobs.
In 2006, the Independence Township Planning Commision approved plans by Beaumont for a 200-bed hospital in the township, but those plans were scrapped in stressed economic times.
Kittle said it’s ironic Beaumont now leads the oppositional fight against McLaren in Clarkston.
And, this is America after all, Kittle concluded.
‘An unfettered economy is what made the United States able to acquire the greatest amount of wealth and best quality of life in the shortest period of time in the history of the world. Why should there be artificial barriers here in Michigan,? Kittle asked.
Michigan Senate Bill 1073 has been placed on the General Orders calendar for consideration in Lansing.