Listen Carefully To Answers From Hospital Authority
To the Editor:

I was seated beside a Mr. Brian Schoenborn at the Straits Area Hospital board meeting last Monday, and I see he sent a letter of support for a new hospital to The St. Ignace News editor March 27.

Mr. Schoenborn is unknown to me, but I did listen to the many questions he had for the board over a large variety of subjects, and their responses, before the subject of the new hospital arose.

New hospital discussion was varied and very informative. I listened carefully to this, as it was the biggest reason I had attended. I'm not sure what Mr. Schoenborn was doing during this time, but he heard a few things that I did not. I quote [from his letter]:

1. "Private committees formed to make decisions regarding multimillion dollar projects that will ultimately fall to the taxpayers."

I heard: New nonprofit corporation that will borrow all money from a government entity with the land being supplied by the tribe. There would be no financial liability to the taxpayer. The previously voted millage for the long term care area would continue.

2. "It disturbs me our county commissioners were left in the dark while a private hospital committee was formed making decisions which will affect us all."

I heard: At a public hospital board meeting a committee was formed with the purpose of working directly with the county commissioners, with the commissioners notified that they now needed to set a meeting date. Their reply was that this would be done.

Under the new stand-alone entity, the taxpayers would no longer own the property or the new hospital, relieving them of all responsibility for hospital actions or debts. That's why there would be no public meetings. Taxpayers will continue to have a say over the millage that will be paid by them to the new board for the care of our county's elderly and indigent. We will have our say via our votes.

I expect whoever decides what to do with the current hospital and long term care properties will have a couple of years yet to give extensive thought and planning to what the property can be used for. Since the properties are owned by the county, the taxpayers (us!) should have a lot of input. Hmmm - how about a vocational training school, a junior college, or affordable housing. The ideas could be pretty interesting and great!

I still have many questions I will seek answers for, and I hope all concerned taxpayers will ask any questions they may have. Please listen carefully to the answers, so we can be sure we get a full understanding. I hope I have cleared up some of Mr. Schoenborn's misunderstandings. Keeping a great asset to all in Mackinac County is worth the time and effort to learn.

By the way, our hospital is a profitable entity, while the long term care area is not.

Sally Hazen

Hessel