This story first appeared in CM Life, Central Michigan University’s award-winning, student-run campus media company.
The Central Michigan University Board of Trustees heard from CMU Health employees Thursday, who had concerns about a "possible" external health system merger.
At its first regular session of the spring semester -- and the first for new Trustees Jeff Stoutenburg and Dr. Ashok Kondur -- the board also approved its first funding toward a plan to move the College of Medicine to Saginaw but said the decision to move "isn't final."
CMU pitches idea of a health system partnership, clinic employees disapprove
In the board’s Finance and Facilities Committee on Wednesday, Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services Mary Hill announced a proposal to negotiate details of a master service plan and lease agreement to integrate MyMichigan into the university’s clinical care. That got amended to allow the possibility of other partnerships and agreements Thursday after clinic staff members raised red flags.
“We would lose what is special about our clinic and our students would suffer,” CMU Health Certified Assistant Brittany Herrick said.
Anne-Marie Wiggins is a family nurse practitioner for CMU Health. She told trustees during the meeting that the merger would wipe out employees' benefits.
“Many of us have longevity with CMU,” Wiggins said. “We have employees who have been here for 22 years, 17 years. … If we are no longer employees of CMU, we would lose the seniority and benefits we worked so hard to get.”
President Neil MacKinnon said the idea of a merger would help expand the clinic’s clientele, specifically through the summer months, when many students aren’t on campus. He says it would achieve the university's fourth strategic goal of being more sustainable.
“I think we are doing our due diligence as far as how do we maintain the same level of service but make sure it's not a drain on the university’s resources,” MacKinnon said.
According to CMU's 2024-25 operating budget, the total subsidies provided to the College of Medicine's clinical operations were approximately $586,000. That's about 2.5% of the total subsidies provided to programs across the university.
"The subsidy is necessary to assure the continued delivery of essential clinical, campus health education and other related services to CMU students and the university community," according to the budget.
But the clinic is still spending more money than it has. According to the budget, it brings in just over $1 million in revenues, but combined with the approximately $586,000 in university subsidies, is still spending about $2.7 million annually.
Family Medicine Physician Dr. Cara Crawford-Bartle said the clinic was informed about, "plans to move forward with MyMichigan acquiring the clinics on campus" for the first time early Wednesday morning, and was shocked by the news and lack of time to react.
She said she is afraid the clinic would focus on profits rather than providing quality care to patients if they were run by an external system.
“My fear is that will shift away from a model of care that prioritizes our students, faculty, staff and their access to care, as well the community members that we serve in that specific clinic, and end up focusing primarily on profits and seeing as many patients as possible,” Bartle said.
She recommended that the board look for alternative partners to MyMichigan or introduce a student fee to support the clinic.
Mackinnon said he is planning on meeting with any impacted employees next week, as well as setting up one-on-one meetings for the university’s human resource department to gather feedback on their concerns
He said that if the CMU merges with an external health system, CMU Health employees will be considered staff members of the chosen partnership.
“Hypothetically let's say that MyMichigan took over running these clinics; anyone working those clinics would be MyMichigan employees,” MacKinnon said. “They are no longer a CMU employee."
MacKinnon explained that the university can't guarantee 100% of benefits and salaries to those affected, but said he is confident that they would remain in their positions if they reapply.
“They (MyMichigan) would love if all of them stayed and worked with MyMichigan,” MacKinnon said. “They will have to of course reapply for positions and determine where it’s a good fit for them.”
CMU Athletics currently has a partnership with MyMichigan.
The board approved MacKinnon's authorization to look into potential partnerships but emphasized that there is currently no contract with any external health system with the university's clinic.
Slowing down CMED
The board also passed a resolution to allow MacKinnon to hire specialized fundraisers and project developers to explore moving the medical school to Saginaw.
The resolution allots $1.2 million until the end of next year. Board Chairman Todd Regis read the proposal aloud during the meeting:
“Be it resolved that the board of trustees authorized President MacKinnon to engage legislative consultants, legal advisors and development officers to support the continued efforts towards the college of medicine for an amount up to $1.2 million through Dec. 31, 2026."
Essentially, MacKinnon said planning and fundraising for a medical school requires a specific expertise.
“As we’re moving ahead, we’re realizing that there are some additional costs; for example, one of the things was legal,” he said. “There’s a lot of legal implications … with the medical school.
"There’s no shovels in the ground, we’re not at that point yet, but just in the planning process, and if we don’t have those resources, it would slow down any progress that we’re making.”
Regis emphasized that this is the first expenditure the board has authorized on the project, and said that whether the university pursues the medical school move isn’t yet decided.
“We are taking steps towards making a decision,” he said. “Are we going to move it, or are we not? We haven’t made that decision. The board hasn’t said we’re moving yet. The president hasn’t said to us, ‘Hey, we’re moving.’
“But the only way we’re going to find out is if we spend some time, and we need help in some areas to get there. A lot of decisions (are) still to be made, but this is a step toward helping make those decisions.”
The resolution passed, but unlike most board resolutions, it was not unanimous. Trustee Todd Anson said he was voting no, but still approved of the medical school project as a whole.
In other news
· The Board unanimously approved an increase in the price of housing (by 4%) and meal plans (by 3.5%) with no discussion. Trustee Edward Plawecki pointed out that this increase follows inflation, and that the university's pricing is still mid-range for public universities in Michigan.
· Collective bargaining agreements got the green light.
· The Board announced two different awards during the meeting: the CMU Board of Trustees Award for graduating seniors with a 4.0 GPA, starting in May 2025; and the Board of Trustees Maroon and Gold Award for campus leadership, which could be awarded to any student, faculty, staff, community member or organization.
· Former U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) will be the next Griffin Endowed Chair, taking over from term-limited Andrea LaFontaine for the position in the School of Politics, Society, Justice and Public Service.
· Carl Lee, a faculty member in the department of Statistics, Actuarial and Data Sciences received Emeritus Rank, a title to honor his service to CMU since 1984.
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