An offer by the St. Ignace hospital to pay drivers' tolls across the Mackinac Bridge for a weekend, originally scheduled for the weekend of August 28 to August 30, has been postponed by the Mackinac Straits Health System Foundation. It proposed the offer during the Mackinac Bridge Authority meeting July 10.

Plans are still being made, but the hospital is now targeting the bridge's 52nd anniversary November 1, although other dates also are being considered, hospital CEO Rod Nelson said.

The offer of a free ride was originally planned to stretch over a weekend, although the hospital foundation now is considering offering a 24-hour window for non-commercial traffic to cross the bridge on the hospital's tab.

Three reasons why the date was pushed back, according to Mr. Nelson, were cost, the effort of finding co-sponsors, and a lack of time to plan.

"We need time to plan it appropriately," Mr. Nelson said. "Four to six weeks just was not enough time."

The initial estimate on the cost of offering free bridge fare for 24 hours during the last weekend in August was about $50,000. Based on changes in bridge traffic during the fall, Mr. Nelson said he would expect the cost in November to be about half that amount.

"We're hoping we'll have cosponsors, too," he said. No other organizations have yet volunteered to help sponsor the program. The decision to offer the paid tolls was made by the foundation board.

The event will be funded through a combination of current foundation funds and money from foundation donors who earmark their donation for the bridge tolls. Mr. Nelson said no funds will be drawn away from the construction of the new hospital, and that project's remaining costs will be paid entirely with loans through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and lender Arbor One.

The hospital has offered to pick up such a large tab for this event both to support the local economy, which is based on tourists crossing the bridge, and also to help bring recognition to the new hospital project.

"The hospital relies as much on tourism as probably any industry in the area," Mr. Nelson said. "It's a big contributor to our bottom line."

The foundation also is seeking to raise about an additional $2.2 million to help pay for upgrades and additions to hospital programs and services, a feat that may not be possible through purely local donations, Mr. Nelson said.

"It's probably not reasonable to think we can raise the $2 million to $3 million in this area alone," he said. "That is a lot of pressure for a local economy."

By bringing awareness to the building project through the free fare program, Mr. Nelson said he hoped to spread the word to those outside the region, which could result in additional contributions to the foundation.

"I think it's a pretty good story that a hospital is being built in these economic times, particularly in this state," he said.

The hospital has been working with DP and Company, a marketing company from Farmington Hills, that will help the foundation promote the event.

Mr. Nelson admitted that the hospital does not really know what the effect on business and the local economy will be, but said the idea is worth a try.

"During times like these, you sometimes need to think outside the box," he said. "You need to sometimes take some risks and continue pushing an organization forward."