Mackinac Island Residents Asked To Support Hospital Millage May 3

Mackinac County voters, on May 3, will be asked to approve a 1.2-mill operations tax to support Mackinac Straits Hospital and Health Center for the next five years. The millage is a continuation of a millage that was first voted in 1989, except it has been reduced from 1.4 mills to
1.2 mills.

The current millage expired in December and a renewal was rejected by county voters last November, possibly because of the lengthy presidential ballot, say hospital officials. This is the second attempt at passage, which Hospital CEO Rod Nelson said is necessary to support the medical services provided by the facility.

Mackinac Straits Hospital also operates the Mackinac Island Medical Center and has been instrumental in obtaining emergency room status, which is hoped to boost revenues some $100,000 a year here, has streamlined billing procedures, and has cut some operations costs by combining purchasing power with the facility in St. Ignace.

The millage has been reduced, said Mr. Nelson, in part because new services at St. Ignace, such as an oncology unit that provides chemotherapy, and a renal dialysis unit for patients with kidney disease, have increased revenues. Such services, in addition to visiting specialists from Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey, are convenient for Mackinac County residents, he said, because they save travel time to distant hospitals.

Mackinac Island residents, added Mayor Margaret Doud, also use the 91-bed Long Term Care Facility at the hospital. She and the Mackinac Island City Council endorsed the mill-age at a meeting this winter.

The millage, Mr. Nelson said, will not be used for a new, modern facility being planned near the Mackinac County Airport. That facility, it is hoped, will be paid without the need for additional millage.

Converted to taxes, one mill is assessed as $1 for each $1,000 of taxable value. The owner of a house with a taxable value of $25,000, assessed 1.2 mills, would pay $30 in taxes a year.