MHA CEO Report — The Story of the MHA Program Year

MHA Rounds Report - Brian Peters, MHA CEO

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”Peter Drucker

MHA Rounds Report - Brian Peters, MHA CEOThe theme of the 2022-2023 MHA program year was telling our story. With focus and passion, we told the stories of our hospitals and health systems, the challenges and adversity they face, and how they still provide high quality and accessible healthcare to their communities. This theme was intended to ensure that we as healthcare leaders continue to help those who don’t live and breathe healthcare understand the ways we are working to meet the most pressing needs, but also the support we need from other sectors to continue to offer strong and daily access to care for all. Our theme served to frame the four distinct pillars of our association strategic action plan, which included the financial sustainability of hospitals, workforce restoration and well-being, the behavioral health crisis and continued efforts towards achieving health equity.

I’m pleased to share we made significant progress in telling our story and achieving tangible, impactful results under each of the four strategic pillars, which is summarized in the latest MHA Annual Report. This work evolved around the ending of the COVID-19 public health emergency, a pandemic that tried our member organizations, and especially their healthcare workers, like nothing has before in most of our lifetimes. A large part of our success in making this transition and achieving so many significant outcomes was due to the MHA Board of Trustees, who I want to thank for their strong leadership and commitment to advancing the health of individuals and communities. I particularly want to express my gratitude to our outgoing Chair, T. Anthony Denton, for his steadfast leadership throughout this year.

Key to our efforts to safeguard the financial viability of hospitals is our continued focus on the state budget. Not only were we successful in continuing existing supplemental payment pools such as for Disproportionate Share Hospitals, Graduate Medical Education, Rural Access and Obstetrical Stabilization, but we also secured a Medicaid outpatient hospital rate increase. Collectively, these victories generated hundreds of millions in funding for Michigan hospitals. Long a priority of our association, the MHA also successfully advocated to ensure the Healthy Michigan Plan (our Medicaid expansion program) is fully funded. Our advocacy team continues to be one of the most respected in Lansing, as we saw several MHA-supported bills signed into law while experiencing a 100% success rate in making sure none of the 10 bills we opposed became statute.

Each of the four pillars are equally important to our membership, but it is hard to overstate just how important workforce restoration and well-being is to our healthcare leaders. This is the issue that keeps each of them up at night, whether it is finding new staff or protecting and retaining their existing workers. Our advocacy efforts secured an additional $75 million in funding to support the hospital workforce while also securing $56 million in funding to support partnerships to offer Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs at community colleges. We also continue to advocate for increased penalties for those who verbally or physically harm healthcare workers, providing them with protections they deserve as front-line caregivers, much like emergency responders receive. The MHA Keystone Center has been active in offering well-being resources, trainings, safety and security risk assessments and other offerings, continuing their long history as a leader in safety and quality not just here in Michigan, but nationally and internationally. Lastly, we recently launched a statewide healthcare career awareness campaign to entice students to pursue health career pathways.

Our work on behavioral health continues, as there remains a need to expand the number of behavioral health professionals and facilities to provide better access to care. The MHA secured both $50 million in the fiscal year 2023 state budget for expanding pediatric inpatient capacity, while adding an additional $10 million to create Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities to alleviate state hospital capacity issues. Much of the feedback we have received is the need to add quantitative data to the conversation to demonstrate to lawmakers and stakeholders the degree of the crisis. For several months, our team has been collecting data weekly on the number of patients waiting for a behavioral health bed in Michigan hospitals. This demonstrates the degree to which patients are having difficulty finding care, while also showing how many patients are utilizing hospital resources while the facility receives no reimbursement due to not having an acute care diagnosis billing code.

Lastly, we will not rest as our members continue to address health disparities to ensure health equity. The MHA Keystone Center works closely with the Michigan Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (MI AIM) to help address disparities and reduce the risk of maternal death. This past program year, their efforts resulted in 77% of Michigan birthing hospitals participating in MI AIM, 94% of which are compliant with the pre-partum assessment and 89% are compliant with the post-partum assessment. Our work with the MHA Public Health Task Force also continues as they explore strategies for collaboration that can improve data collection and public health initiatives.

Of course, there are always other items that come up that require MHA attention and effort that are not always known during the development of the strategic action plan. Responding to the shortages of chemotherapy drugs cisplatin and carboplatin and working with Michigan’s Congressional delegation is just one example of the value of association membership and how quickly we can mobilize our relationships in a time of crisis. Other wildcards include our work on licensing Rural Emergency Hospitals, tracking and increasing awareness of candida auris infections and expanding hospital bed capacity.

As we concluded our program year during our Annual Meeting on Mackinac Island, we were able to honor a true healthcare champion with our Meritorious Service Award in U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow. She announced earlier this year she will not seek an additional term in office and this award is the highest honor our association can bestow on an individual for their years of work towards enabling the health and wellness of individuals and communities. We have worked closely with Sen. Stabenow from her time in elected office in the Michigan Legislature to Congress and she will leave an extraordinary legacy for which the MHA family will be eternally grateful. We also had an opportunity to honor a number of other outstanding individuals for their contributions to Michigan healthcare.

Above all else, I want to take this opportunity to thank all MHA staff for their many contributions which made it another successful program year. The challenges we confront in healthcare are daunting and constantly evolving, but my confidence in our team at the MHA has never wavered, as they continue to display their exceptional commitment to their work and embody the MHA culture of member service and value creation every single day.

Now as we formally begin our 2023-24 program year on July 1, I am excited for the leadership of our new Chair Shannon Striebich. We offer our congratulations to her and look forward to working closely together. A year from now, I am confident we will once again be able to report on the successful outcomes we were able to achieve through our unity, collaboration and plain old fashioned hard work.

As always, I welcome your thoughts.

MHA Keystone Center 2021-2022 Annual Report Highlights Collaboration and Partnership

The MHA Keystone Center 2021-2022 Annual Report

The MHA Keystone Center recently released its 2021-2022 Annual Report, which showcases the center’s commitment to working alongside members to improve safety and quality in healthcare. Through support from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, this report highlights the profound impact collaboration and partnership amongst the Michigan healthcare community can have on Michigan’s communities.

Report highlights include:

  • An introduction to the MHA Keystone Center’s Health Equity Task Force, which was assembled to provide guidance to members in their efforts to redesign and implement interventions that address disparities in care.
  • An overview of the well-being program (WELL-B) launched in partnership with Duke Center for Healthcare Safety and Quality to address workplace burnout in healthcare.
  • A birds-eye view of the collaboration taking place to address increasing opioid use disorder cases.

Printed copies are available upon request.

Members with questions about the report should contact the MHA Keystone Center.

MHA CEO Report — Stronger Together

MHA Rounds Report - Brian Peters, MHA CEO

“Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.” ― Helen Keller

MHA Rounds Report - Brian Peters, MHA CEOThe arrival of summer signifies the completion of the MHA’s program year. During this time, the association reviews our many accomplishments related to the core issues reflected in our strategic action plan. These accomplishments directly benefit not only our members, but the patients and communities that we collectively serve as well. As we went through the process this year — a year that was still heavily influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic — a key theme resonated throughout: the MHA, and the health of our communities, is strengthened by collaboration and stakeholders working together.

“Stronger together” is the theme of the MHA’s 2021-2022 Annual Report. It encapsulates how integrated healthcare truly is, whether reflected by partnerships between health systems throughout the state, with our partners at other associations, or through external stakeholders in public health and government. As I have said many times in the past year, our work in this challenging environment is truly an all-hands-on-deck affair. With that in mind, stronger together also addresses the value of the amazing staff at the MHA and how we collectively could not achieve our goals without the expertise, talent and teamwork of our various divisions. Lastly, I must thank Tina Freese Decker, president and CEO of BHSH System and the 2021-2022 MHA Board of Trustees chair, for her exceptional leadership during this program year. Tina provided direction and influence in both the crafting of the strategic action plan, as well as the tactics that we used to meet our goals.

During the year in review, our members had to navigate multiple COVID-19 surges and the most significant workforce crisis I’ve experienced throughout my professional career. However, vaccine access was available to most of our population and new therapeutics became available that have truly improved health outcomes for those infected by COVID-19. In addition, as the focus and attention of our society and lawmakers slowly pivoted away from the pandemic, we devoted significant energy and resources to a host of other important issues including workforce sustainability, health equity, data strategy, behavioral health and more. Collectively, these efforts have supported our association mission and helped to advance the health of individuals and communities.

It is my pleasure to share the completed MHA 2021-2022 Annual Report that goes into greater detail on the strategic objectives and how the MHA met and addressed each task head-on. This summary makes me extremely proud to work with an incredible organization that unquestionably has provided value to our members and made a real difference in our state.

As COVID-19 moves closer to an endemic stage, we have entered a “new normal” phase in the healthcare landscape, which brings unique opportunities to significantly improve how care is designed, delivered and reimbursed. In the coming months, the MHA will establish our specific priorities and strategies for the new program year — and I can promise that we will address all of those priorities with the same intense focus, professionalism and commitment that the MHA has always displayed. And we will do it together.

As always, I welcome your thoughts.

Annual Report Highlights Member Dedication Amid COVID-19

2020-2021 Annual Report

2020-2021 Annual ReportThe MHA Keystone Center recently released its 2020-2021 Annual Report, which showcases the center’s accomplishments and member-driven efforts to improve the quality and safety of healthcare statewide and beyond. It also describes member hospitals’ connection with the MHA Keystone Center during the past program year to learn and share best practices to implement the changes necessary to provide safer, more equitable healthcare even amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Report highlights include:

Members with questions about the report or who would like to request printed copies should contact the MHA Keystone Center.