
The following statement can be attributed to Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association.
The Michigan Health & Hospital Association is proud to join the many stakeholders supporting Senate Bills 530 and 531.”
The following statement can be attributed to Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association.
The Michigan Health & Hospital Association is proud to join the many stakeholders supporting Senate Bills 530 and 531.”
82% of Michigan Voters Oppose Mandated Hospital Nurse Staffing Ratios
The Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA) released data today illustrating strong public opposition to legislation proposing one-size-fits-all state mandated hospital nurse-to-patient staffing ratios and hospital survey data on the severe impact of the legislation on access to care for Michiganders.
A survey of 600 Michigan voters conducted by EPIC-MRA in August shows 82% of Michigan voters do not believe the government should mandate one-size-fits-all nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in every hospital, which is currently proposed in Senate Bills 334 – 336 and House Bills 4550 – 4552.
If the bills were to become law, 83% of Michigan voters would be concerned about their ability to receive care, or the wait times, in a Michigan hospital emergency room.
“These survey results are abundantly clear; Michigan voters have no appetite to remove hospital staffing decisions from clinical nursing leaders to implement an arbitrary one-size-fits-all mandate by politicians,” said MHA CEO Brian Peters. “Such a decision would be harmful to patients and have dire consequences for healthcare throughout the state. Our hospitals and health systems are focused on proven solutions to address staffing shortages that address the talent pipeline and retain existing nurses.”
The MHA also released the results from a survey of 109 Michigan hospitals conducted in July and August on the potential impact of the proposed legislation. Implementing staffing ratios will either require hiring 12,954 registered nurses or the state risks closing up to 5,074 hospital beds to comply. These results follow a survey of 95% of the MHA membership in March 2023 which found Michigan hospitals had 8,438 immediate openings for nurses amid a nationwide nursing shortage. The loss in hospital bed capacity is roughly equivalent to Michigan closing its six largest hospitals determined by licensed hospital beds.
“The significant and devastating impacts these bills can have on patient care and patient access make these the top concern for hospitals and health systems throughout our state,” said Shannon Striebich, MHA Board Chair and Ministry President and Senior Vice President of Operations at Trinity Health Michigan. “We value our nurses and are working diligently to offer recruitment and retention options that do not come at the expense of access to care for Michiganders.”
Hospital staffing decisions and nurse-to-patient ratios are currently made by nursing leaders in each individual hospital based on years of clinical experience and a complex set of variables. These decisions weigh a multitude of factors which vary from each hospital and community and can include the number of patients in a hospital unit, how sick each patient is, the training and experience level of nurses and other members of the care delivery team, available technology and existing hospital data and metrics.
“The decades of experience I have serving as a bedside nurse, nursing supervisor and in other nursing leadership roles inform decisions I make every day when it comes to helping create the best possible environment for our patients and our clinical team,” said Kelli Sadler, MHA, BSN, RN, senior vice president and chief nursing executive of Corewell Health in Southeast Michigan. “We should be able to determine the staffing ratios that best fit our communities. This legislation doesn’t address the real problem, which is a lack of nurses statewide.”
Hospitals remain committed to identifying tangible solutions to recruit more workers to healthcare careers and to retain existing healthcare workers. The actions by the MHA include:
The MHA has also identified several public policy solutions that can be enacted today to help solve nurse staffing shortages. Those solutions include:
The data was released as part of Hospitals for Patient Access Advocacy Day, which brought more than 130 hospital and nursing leaders to Lansing to meet with state lawmakers about nurse staffing shortages and access to care for Michiganders. More information can be found on the MHA nurse staffing ratios webpage.
The MHA received media coverage the weeks of August 28 and Sept. 4 regarding prescription drug affordability, the healthcare workforce and COVID-19.
MHA CEO Brian Peters spoke with a variety of news outlets regarding these topics.
Below is a collection of headline from around the state.
Members with any questions regarding media requests should contact John Karasinski at the MHA.
The following statement can be attributed to Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association following Gov. Whitmer’s What’s Next address.
Our association looks forward to working with the administration and lawmakers to support efforts to reduce costs for lifesaving drugs, remove barriers to prescription drug access and protect existing solutions such as the 340B drug pricing program to increase affordable prescription drug access for Michigan residents.
The story also mentions $50 million in state funding to create pediatric residential treatment facilities, while also mentioning the need for the state to provide appropriate treatment and interventions to prevent children from needing to seek care at a hospital.
“Being in an ED for days at a time if not months creates more problems than they came in with,” said Appel. “Every large hospital system in Michigan has a story about a child who has been in their care for weeks, months. And when I say months I mean 200 days, 300 days, because it’s so hard to place kids with such complex needs.”
The following statement can be attributed to Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association following the Michigan Supreme Court decision on Andary v. USAA.
In addition to this decision, the MHA remains engaged with lawmakers on identifying and supporting reforms to the auto no-fault law to improve access to care and support healthcare providers.
The MHA received media coverage the week of June 26 regarding the state budget, the healthcare workforce and auto no-fault utilization review.
MHA CEO Brian Peters is quoted in multiple stories. Below is a collection of headlines from around the state.
Members with any questions regarding media requests should contact John Karasinski at the MHA.
The following statement can be attributed to Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association.
We are extremely pleased to see the inclusion of new funding to support trauma centers and inpatient psychiatric services that will provide a net benefit of $92 million. Trauma centers at hospitals provide lifesaving treatment to people with the most severe injuries, ready at a moment’s notice for mass casualty events and catastrophic accidents with a vital network of EMS services. This added funding makes Michigan a national leader in recognizing the importance of access to trauma services and makes sure trauma centers can continue to be equipped with the resources needed to staff these services 24/7, year-round.
Michigan is also in the middle of a behavioral health crisis where the demand of patients needing inpatient care continues to increase. We commend the Legislature for recognizing this need and increasing rates to inpatient psychiatric facilities based on patient acuity to help hospitals afford the staffing, security and facilities necessary to accept patients with more severe illness.
In addition, the budget continues to support long-standing programs crucial to access to healthcare services throughout Michigan. These include funding for rural and critical access hospitals, obstetrical services, graduate medical education, the Healthy Michigan Plan and Michigan’s Medicaid population.
We look forward to a signed budget that provides hospitals with the needed support to continue to provide high-quality care to every patient.
The MHA received media coverage the week of June 19 regarding mandated nurse staffing ratios, legislation to address violence against healthcare workers and chemotherapy drug shortages.
MHA representatives appearing in published stories include CEO Brian Peters, Executive Vice President Laura Appel and Senior Vice President Adam Carlson.
Below is a collection of headline from around the state.
Members with any questions regarding media requests should contact John Karasinski at the MHA.
The MHA received media coverage the week of June 12 regarding prescription drug costs, COVID-19 and behavioral health.
MHA representatives appearing in published stories include CEO Brian Peters, Executive Vice President Laura Appel, Senior Vice President Sam Watson and Senior Director Elizabeth Kutter.
Below is a collection of headline from around the state.
Members with any questions regarding media requests should contact John Karasinski at the MHA.