Health Equity/Healthcare
MOSES is a founding member of the Michigan Coalition for Health Care Advancement (MCHA). MCHA is a coalition of organizations working to insure that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), meets the needs of the uninsured and underinsured individuals in our state. We believe that to be successful, implementation of the ACA should be affordable, accessible, responsive and transparent for all consumers. MOSES leaders serve on the MCHA grassroots task force and leadership team as well as state government task forces to plan for implementation.
Michigan was one of the first states to establish an Office of Minority Health. The office has diminished in size, status and capacity to influence policy and is now a “Section” in the Department of Community Health. MOSES, our partner Michigan Minority Health Coalition and allies in the Public Health Community are advocating for an Office of Health Equity. The office will have greater public visibility, power to influence public health policies and have access to funding to work toward the reduction of health disparities in Michigan. The office will also have much improved opportunities to communicate with other departments. At our recent public meeting both Gubernatorial Candidates agreed to meet with MOSES leadership to discuss formation of the office. With our partners, we are now preparing to meet with Governor Snyder.
Several years ago, Riverview Hospital, which served the Eastside Detroit community, closed abruptly. A MOSES pastor who served on the hospital’s community advisory board, learned about the closing on the television news. MOSES embarked on a campaign to insure that hospitals would not close abruptly without an assessment of the medical needs of the communities they serve. MOSES and our partner Michigan Universal Health Care Access Network (MichUHCAN) with the assistance of the Wayne County Health Authority prepared a white paper for the Michigan Hospital Association (MHA). The purpose of the paper is to explore the relationship of health systems to the communities they serve and provide opportunities to prevent hospital/health service closures, where possible, and lessen the negative impact on community health when a facility decides to close or eliminate an essential medical service. We are asking that the MHA establish a process for their member hospitals to ensure community involvement and input in maintaining essential medical services when hospital systems close or restructure. The MHA board foundation board approved our proposal and the Executive Board will vote on including our proposal within their recommendations to member hospitals. MHA leadership is now supportive of our position. MOSES leaders will be meeting with area health systems to insure that MOSES will be at the table when decisions are made that will effect health care in our community.
In March 2010 the CEO of the not-for-profit Detroit Medical Center [DMC], Mike Duggan, announced that he and the DMC Board had entered into a non-binding ‘letter of intent’ with Vanguard Health Systems [VHS], a ‘for profit’ holding company. This marked the first time in Michigan history that a non-profit hospital would convert to a for-profit institution. The deal was made behind closed doors with no community input of involvement. MOSES joined with MichUHCAN and Michigan Legal Services to form the Coalition to Protect Detroit Health Care. The coalition prepared a letter detailing our concerns for the Attorney General’s Office and met with staff in the Attorney General’s Office. We hosted a forum with Wayne State University and met with media to publicize our issues with the sale. While we weren’t successful at stopping the sale, we were able to influence terms of the sale:
- Vanguard made a commitment to keep the DMC hospitals and core services open and operating for a decade. Those core services include neo-natal services; emergency departments; trauma related services; and others
- Vanguard agreed to carry on the free or discounted health care DMC gives to Detroiters now at the same or better levels for a decade. This is the first time in the nation that we are aware of that a private, for-profit, system has been subject to giving out charity care for such a long period of time.
- Board of Directors of the DMC will remain intact and will have an oversight role to make sure that Vanguard fulfills the commitments it made. This "Legacy DMC Board" will also manage a substantial amount of cash given to DMC for non-profit purposes.
MOSES is the community based organization participating on the Wayne County Department of Public Health Infant Mortality Steering Committee. The committee is part of the Robert Wood Johnson Place Matters Initiative. We have chosen to address the high infant mortality rate in Wayne County by addressing the social determinants of health for girls and women of child bearing age. The committee is also preparing a white paper which will be presented to public officials and in forums across Wayne County. We are working with Jonathan Heller at Human Impact Partners and are in the process of developing a specific policy strategy to advance our goals. MOSES is participating in all facets of the work and will play a key role in introducing the white paper to the community.
MOSES is in the beginning stages of exploring plans to use the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) tool to inform existing issue work regarding the citywide land use project called “Rightsizing” Detroit or the Detroit Works Project. This project’s goal is to re-imagine what Detroit should look like with the reduction of population and citywide services. MOSES is one of the partners to leverage community engagement in the process and MOSES is looking to make sure policies decisions and land use changes are layered with a health equity lens. Again, Jonathan Heller agreed to work with us to develop this project.
For more information contact Valarie Pryzwara or Selamawit Misgano. |
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