GR poison control center may lose state funding, could lead to closure
April 10th, 2009 at 3:29 pm by Tony Tagliavia under News
The state is considering eliminating funding for the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Poison Control Center in Grand Rapids, a move that could force the center to close, a Spectrum Health spokesman said.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s budget proposal cut state support for both poison centers that receive funds, including the one in Grand Rapids and one at the Detroit Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital of Michigan. A spokeswoman for the governor said it was one of the many cuts proposed for all state departments. “It was an extremely painful budget,” said the spokeswoman, Megan Brown.
Some in the state House have considered consolidating state funding to support just one poison control center, the one in Detroit.
A Spectrum statement said the possible closure of the Grand Rapids center would not interrupt statewide poison control service.
The Poison Control Center at DeVos Children’s has an operating budget of $1.4 million, and 17 percent of it — $250,000 — is an annual subsidy from the state of Michigan, according to the Spectrum statement. Another 21 percent of the funding comes from the federal government and three percent is support from the United Way. But the majority of the center’s funding — roughly 60 percent — comes from DeVos Children’s itself and the Spectrum spokesman, Bruce Rossman, said the possible state funding cut would force the children’s hospital’s patients to subsidize the poison center.
The state subsidy covers an ever-decreasing share of the cost of the center as expenses continue to rise, Rossman said, “And if they’re going to put all their funding to one poison center, we can’t in good conscience continue to run this service.”
He stressed that Spectrum will not make a final decision on the status of the facility until the state’s funding plan is clear.
The Grand Rapids center employs 17 people, including some part-time workers, and two doctors who also work elsewhere at Spectrum Health. It is unclear how a possible closure would affect those employees, Rossman said.
The centers in Detroit and Grand Rapids already share the same phone number, 1-800-222-1222 .
Tags: children's, Detroit, detroit medical center, devos, DMC, Grand Rapids, Michigan, poison control, spectrum
Here is what will “happen” to those 17+ employees. They will try to place them in a position in Spectrum Health. Granted it may be a position that they are NOT trained to do….or they will give them a severance package….therefore increasing MI ever growing unemployment levels. Benefits of having TWO poison centers are multi-fold: 1) nurses and doctors handling your calls in the area you live in and having the ability to get you treatment and help ASAP. 2) Poison Centers cut the amount of people going into ER’s by huge amounts therefore saving tax payer money and reducing hospital costs. 3) Poison Center staff are TRAINED to deal with poisoning cases…..that is what they do! I would rather have a trained professional handling my case. 4) Is it just me or does a 1 million dollar budget seem like change for a hospital that continues to build and build and build…..I just hope the COMMUNITY means something to Spectrum Health….we’ll see!
I feel very strongly that closing the Poison Control should not close. Lives are at stake. This would be a wonderful tax right-off for a major employer like Meijer, Amway, Steelcase – and would give wonderful positive publicity for the donor. They could be a HERO! It is WIN/WIN situation!