Commissioners Question Why Residents May Have No Say in New Hospital Board
By Karen Gould

With county residents contributing $900,000 a year in taxes to support Mackinac Straits Hospital, county commissioners want to know why the public hospital authority is proposing a new private entity, which will not have to hold public meetings. The change from having public to closed meetings hinges on a transfer of ownership, say hospital officials, which they favor, and must be approved by voters in the hospital's four controlling units, the City St. Ignace, St. Ignace Township, Moran Township, and Brevort Township.

The ownership transfer will be on the May 6 ballot.

Commissioners decided they need more information about the transfer of ownership from the public Mackinac Straits Hospital Authority to the private Mackinac Straits Health Systems, and have scheduled a meeting for Wednesday, March 5, at 6 p.m. They plan to talk with their attorney, Bonnie Toskey of Cohl, Stoker, Toskey, and McGlinchey in Lansing, via a conference call and commissioners have invited township supervisors from the four controlling units to attend the session. The public meeting will be held in the commissioner's room in the county annex.

During their meeting Thursday, February 28, commissioners also noted that the hospital plans to continue to collect the five-year, 1.2 millage, which is up for renewal in 2009.

In past months, hospital officials had been asked to meet with the county board to discuss plans, say commissioners, although no meeting was ever held. Now commissioners will seek legal advice on the transfer proposal and on the millage.

"We all recognize that they don't want us to be involved," said Commission Chair Dawn Nelson.

Commissioner Mike Patrick agreed.

"They want nothing to do with us," he said.

On May 6, voters in the four units that comprise the Hospital Authority will be asked to approve a transfer of ownership of assets from the Mackinac Straits Hospital Authority to a new entity called Mackinac Straits Health Systems, Inc., which has been set up to govern a planned new hospital. The new hospital will be called Straits Area Healthcare Village. Initially planned to cost $32 million in 2004, the proposed facility planned for the 18-acre North State Street site has more recently been estimated to cost $26 million, and is expected to be opened in the fall of 2009.

The 1.2 mills is used to support services at the hospital. One mill is assessed as $1 for each $1,000 of taxable value. The owner of a house with a taxable value of $50,000, for example, has paid $60 in taxes a year to support the medical facility.

Commissioners said they have waited since November to receive a legal opinion about a possible conflict of interest for the chief deputy treasurer from Mackinac County Prosecutor Fred Feleppa, and still have not received the document. The matter dates back to 2004 and resurfaced last year. At issue is a possible lack of checks and balances with Moran Township Treasurer Sue Dionne paying the county tax money on behalf of the township. She then collects that same money at the county level as chief deputy treasurer.

Last November, in response to the allegations, Treasurer Jane Hampton changed Ms. Dionne's title from chief deputy treasurer to bookkeeper, but did not reduce her pay.

During a November 29 commission meeting, it was agreed Mr. Feleppa would review the new bookkeeper job description and advise commissioners as to whether a conflict of interest continues to exist. Commissioners still await his opinion.

Once he turns in his review, the document will be sent to the Wage and Classification Committee for its consideration. County commissioners comprise the committee.

With more residents having difficulty keeping up with debt payments, the Sheriff's Department is unable to process increased requests to seize property of debtors, so now contracts this work with an outside service. At no cost to the county, commissioners supported Sheriff Scott Strait's contract with Edward Van'T Hof, Jr. of Grayling, who now will collect on writs to seize and sell property of debtors. Mr. Van'T Hof, said Sheriff Strait, is paid by collection agencies and is insured.

Commissioners agreed to consider a life insurance program at a Committee of the Whole meeting set for March 26, and would vote on the program at their April 10 meeting. Vincent Babcock of Employee Benefits Agency of Marquette gave a presentation to commissioners. The company works with Michigan Association of Counties and uses Mutual of Omaha.

The county now pays life insurance for employees at a cost of $7,017 a year. Commissioners and department heads receive a $60,000 life insurance benefit, while other eligible employees receive a $20,000 life insurance plan. Mutual of Omaha would reduce the cost for the benefit to the county by about 15% to $5,894 annually.

The program also offers a portability benefit to employees, which allows them to take the life insurance with them if they leave their county post. They can continue to personally pay for the life insurance. Employees also can purchase additional life insurance for their family. Mr. Babcock said his company works with other U.P. counties, including Chippewa.

The county's union contract allows the county to change carriers as long as the benefit does not change.

Commissioners approved a resolution to support House Bill 4323, which would provide uniform standards of operation on county roads for off-road vehicles, including increasing penalties for environmental damage and providing a dedicated fund for law enforcement.

Bids will be sought to replace rusting galvanized pipe with copper piping in the jail. The bids will be opened March 26 at a Committee of the Whole meeting, and a decision made during the commission's regular meeting March 27.

The pipe carries cold water to the cell block and is in the ceiling. The hot water pipe already is copper. The job would require demolition of the old ceiling, replacing the pipe, and building a new ceiling.

Commissioners will decide later if it is more cost effective to move inmates during the work, which requires shutting off the water. A second option would keep the prisoners at the jail and have the contractor reconnect the water each day until the work is finished.

Commissioners reappointed Fred Feleppa to the Hiawatha Behavioral Health (HBH) board. His seat was set to expire March 31. The request for his reappointment came from HBH Chair James Moore.

The next regular county commission meeting is Thursday, March 13, at 6 p.m. in the county annex building.