Economic Alliance for Michigan
CMS Penalizes 24 Michigan Hospitals
58 percent of penalized hospitals located in Southeastern Michigan
NOVI, MICHIGAN, March 6, 2019 – The Economic Alliance for Michigan (EAM), a nonprofit group comprised of Michigan’s largest employers and unions, is concerned about the number of hospitals in Southeast Michigan being penalized for hospital acquired conditions by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). According to a report released by Kaiser Health News on March 1, 2019, the federal government will reduce payments to 800 hospitals nationwide, including 24 hospitals in Michigan (see list below).
Penalized hospitals will lose one percent of Medicare payments in the coming fiscal year. Estimated losses among larger hospitals will exceed over one million dollars. The goal is to hold hospitals accountable for hospital acquired infections such as blood clots, sepsis, bedsores and other adverse events a patient may acquire during a hospital admission.
Overall, Michigan fared better than most states; however, there is concern over the high amount of penalized hospitals servicing Michigan’s major population clusters in the southeastern region.
Key findings for Michigan:
- Hospitals in Michigan only accounted for 3.0% of hospitals penalized nationwide.
- 58 percent of penalized hospitals are located within the state’s southeastern region.
- Four hospitals have been penalized for the past five years straight: DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital in Detroit, DMC Harper University in Detroit, Hurley Medical Center in Flint, and McLaren Flint.
“In this report, it’s great to see the state, as a whole, performing above the national standard for patient safety,” said Bret Jackson, president of EAM. “However, some facilities are harming patients, increasing their need for care, and adding to the high cost of healthcare. It is our hope to work with these hospitals to improve their outcomes.
The 24 penalized hospitals in Michigan:
| Penalized Hospital | City |
| Beaumont Hospital Dearborn | Dearborn |
| Beaumont Hospital Royal Oak | Royal Oak |
| Beaumont Hospital Taylor | Taylor |
| DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital | Detroit |
| DMC Harper University | Detroit |
| DMC Sinai-Grace | Detroit |
| Garden City Hospital | Garden City |
| Henry Ford Wyandotte | Wyandotte |
| Hurley Medical Center | Flint |
| Karmanos Cancer Center | Detroit |
| McLaren Bay Region | Bay City |
| McLaren Flint | Flint |
| McLaren Lapeer Region | Lapeer |
| Metro Health Hospital | Wyoming |
| MidMichigan Medical Center Alpena | Alpena |
| MidMichigan Medical Center Clare | Clare |
| Munson Healthcare Cadillac | Cadillac |
| Saint Mary’s Health | Grand Rapids |
| Spectrum Health Pennock | Hastings |
| Ascension St. John River District | East China |
| St. Joseph Hospital | Tawas City |
| St. Joseph Mercy Hospital | Ann Arbor |
| St. Joseph Mercy Livingston | Howell |
| St. Mary Mercy | Livonia |
For additional information on the Kaiser Health News report go to https://khn.org/news/medicare-trims-payments-to-800-hospitals-citing-patient-safety-incidents/.
Economic Alliance for Michigan 
Losing one percent of Medicare payments will not make this problem go away. As an RN, I am fed up with seeing statistic after statistic about how poor staffing and mandated overtime increases poorer outcome in patients, only to have regulating agencies come in and focus on making sure bedside carts are locked and our white boards are updated. There are units in our hospital that nurses are REQUIRED to sign up for 40 hours of on-call in a schedule IN ADDITION to the potential for being mandated. Put your money where your mouth is and start requiring appropriate staffing.
LikeLike
Amen!
LikeLike
I agree. Over worked and very tired staff makes for increased mistakes and poor patient care. Paying staff over time hours could be better used hiring more staff.
LikeLike
McLaren Flint has been reducing support staff for years so proper/terminal cleaning is not being done correctly, this adds to infection rates. Their slogan is McLaren doing what’s best! But for who?
LikeLike
They all get rid of the LPN’S first! We aren’t “real” nurses! So then the RN’s are maxed out with CNA’s who can’t help with any of the medical stuff. Yet LPN’s can do the job of a CNA and most of a job of an RN. ALSO RN’s are having to get more schooling because they are now being told Associate and BS isn’t enough. And the school work life balance is not able to be balanced!
LikeLike
I got an infection from Beaumont Royal Oak and had to spend a week in the hospital. My veins are still hard from a week worth of IV vancomycin.
LikeLike
They need to add MidMich in Midland too! I got a massive MERSA infection when I had a tumor taken out of my left hip! The incision does not heal and for months all the action taken was visiting nurses packing it with dressings Jan of 2015 I demanded to go to Ann Arbor and if not for the wonderful care I got there I could have DIED or lost my leg! The docs had to open my leg up from my hip to my knee as there was pockets of this infection all through it! I spent a month there, but I got to keep my life and my leg and will be forever grateful to all who took care of me. I refuse to ever be a patient at that lousy Mid-Mich, they would not even admit this infection who only lives in hospitals and nursing homes was present when I had spoken to folks from Midland who also got the same infection and all of them KNEW they were lying and hiding behind their lawyers! Here it is now 2019. last week I went to Ann Arbor as I am having difficulty in walking and my doc there sad it is because I sustained nerve, tissue and bone damage and with nerve damage there is not much that can be done for that so you can imagine how pissed off I am because 5 yrs out, this nightmare continues!
LikeLike