United Way Oal$50,0 Say Service Cuts Are Inevitable Unless Congress Provides Some Relief in the Form of Revisions That Restore Funding
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/ VOLUME 93, NUMl ’ITYIICHIGAN - WEl)NIISDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1999 CHRONICLEFIFTY CENTS I6 PAGES PL1JS 3 SUPPI .I’MEN’I’S I I Communities mourn teens’ deaths in far cident Two area teens were killed Thursday in a silo accidcrit at ;I farm in Sanilac County’s Bridgehanipton Township. Sanilac County Central Dispatch received a call at 6:24 p.1~ reporting that 2 subjects were trapped in a farm silo at 2h54 Ruth Rd. Deputies identified the victirns as Phillip J. Mathewson 11, 18, of Dcford, and Paul ti. DeLon9. IC). 01. Cass City. DeLong, a 1998 graduatc of Ubly Community Schools, grew up on a farm in Tuscola County. His goal was IC! he- come a special education teacher, according to Mark: Tenbusch, Ubly Schools business managcr. “)-IC. worked tl; our special education teachers and he enjoyed it irnnicriscl?.“ Tenbusch said. While Ubly students and staff mourned the loss of Dcloiiy. a similar grieving was taking place at Cass City High Suhor>l. “There were a lot of kids here shook up. Phil M’~Sivcll liked,” Counselor Wayne Dillon said of the 1999 Cn~sCity REACHING OUT, losing out - Medicare reimbursement cuts included in the Bal- anced Budget Act of 1997 are expected to cost Hills and Dales General Hospital in Cass City some $1.5 million over a 5-year period ending in 2002. Hospital officials United Way oal$50,0 say service cuts are inevitable unless Congress provides some relief in the form of revisions that restore funding. This year’s United Way campaign marks not only the final campaign of this mil- Cass City, Cam, county Hospital services on the line lennium, but also the end of a 50-year tradition in the Cass City area. agencies combine forces Members of thc Cass City and Car0 United Way orga- Medicare cuts hitting home nizations earlier this summer approved a plan to merge Imagine you wake up in the pen,” McKrow said. “l’hi\ could kill to minu\ 7.8 per- closc to $300,000, and that’s with the United Way of middle of the night, swcating is the only business 1 know ccnt a cash rcirnhursement reduc- Tuscola County in an effort and fccling nauseous, and whcre thc providcr cannot “If Hills and I>alc\ suffcr.s tion,” he added. “We’ve to combine their resources to thcrc’s a painful squeezing in tell with any sense of surcty that kind of los\, we’rc gone from anticipating a benefit even more groups your c h c st. what thc reirnburscment IS done,” McKrow s~d.HIIIs h al fw ay dccc n t bot t om 1i ne and individuals in area com- You call an ambulance and going to hc.” and Dale\ currcntly operates last ycar to (breaking evcn) munities. a crcw arrives quickly and thc iirht 8 rriorittis of this year. The new organization has stabilizes your condition, hut ’I’hcy’vt. taken away every- set a goal of $50,000 for its you still must endure thc ride thing we might have been first campaign, which will to the nearest medical center “The bottom line is, if we don’t get ablc to do.” run from Oct. 15 through in Saginaw or Bay City be- McKrow said Medicare pa- Nov. 15. cause thc doors at your local some relie$. .then eventually services tients inake up about 45 per- “We’ve been working on it hospital closed weeks ago. have to be And do -you cent of Hills and Dales’ busi- (merger) for a year and a half It’s a worst case scenario, will cut. how ness. “So, it’s by far the hig- and we finally made the de- it gcst percentage of care that cision in June,” said Ken but could happen in Cass decide on which ones? ” City. wc givc herc, and it affects Spencer, who was elected The frustrating thing, ac- our biggest percent of reirn- president of the county United Way. cording to Dee McKrow, bu rseni e n t ,” Town hall completed president and CEO of Hills What local hospital officials with posittvt‘ margin of 3 to At the same time, 80 per- “We’re trying to get all of and Dales General Hospital, do know is that national sur- 6 perccnt, however, she cent of the care provided at the United Ways in the is that no one seems to rcal- veys on thc expected impact pointed out, Medicarc rciin- €lillsand Dalcs is on an out- ize how grave a situation hos- of the Balanced Budgct Act bursement losses to the locd patient basis, where Mcdi- hospital are expected to pitals - particularly rural hos- offer little good news. care reirribursernent cuts are MEAP In onc study, prepared by rcach about 12 percent, or pitals - are facing in the wake cxpcctcd to have a severe of Medicare cuts imple- the Lewin Group for the roughly $1.5 1nilIion, by the impact . y c ar 2 O( 12 -merited in the Balanced Bud- Arncrican Hospital Associa- In response, hospital offi- test results get Act (BBA) of 1997. tion, officials predict the per- “l’hey’re (cuts) devastating cials have made what “The bottom line is, if we centage of hospitals operat- to a lot of hospit;il\ iiiid that McKrow described as some don’t get soiiie relief from ing with negative Medicarc includcs US,” said Kit Millcr, mi nor adL]us t men t s. “But this BBA, then eventually margins will have grown president and C’1:O of C’aro we’re going to have to do mixed bag services will have to bc cut. from 55 percent in 1995 to Co 111m 11n 1 t y Hoqii t a1 more, and I’ll be the first to And how do you dccidc on 70 pcrccnt by th? year 2002. In fact, he addcd, thu cuts say union negotiations are The annual Michigan Edu- which ones?” McKrow com- Depending on cost trends, all are particularly ditlicult !or not going to be easy this cational Assessment niented Friday. hospitals arc expected to rural ho\pi t a 15, w tiic ti don’t year.” (MEAP) tests taken last Officials at Hills and Dales have, at hcst, ;I minus-4.4 have thc linancial flcxihility McKrow noted the hospital spring are a mixed bag for have joined with their coun- lac put an end to weekend students in Cass City and terparts across the country in ncal servicc for cmployees, Owen-Gage when consid- ered against the state aver- a campaign urging conpress- Pleaso turn to page 4. men to support the Promot- ages. ing Health in Rural Arcas Act Cass City showed improve- of 1999, which would restore ments in writing, but was drastic cuts in Medicare below state averages in math, funding to health care pro- Civic leader, retired banker science and reading. vide rs. There are 3 levels in which In a nutshell, McKrow ex- students can receive cndorsc- plained, the Balanced Bud- ments. Level one students @Act of 1997 included sig- Frederick B. Auten dies have exceeded state aver- NEARLY 100 people attended a recent opepr houw nificant reductions in the rc- ages. Level 2 means that the hosted by Evergreen Township officials to showcasc i iri bu rsernc n t s h ospi tal s re- Frederick B. Auton, who brancc liw faiiiily and fricnds surer of the Cass City Com- student has met state stan- c e i v~*for var i o u s se r v i ce s spent ii lifctimc serving and will he hcld at First Prcshy- iiiunity Club, the club that dards. Any studcnt that earns their new township hall in Shabbona. Cutting the rih- at least a division 2 rating in provided to Mcdiuarc pa- promoting ii better Cass City, turian Church Friday, Oct. 8, was tor many years a lead- bon above are (from left) Trustcc Ron Rockwell, Trea- tients (those ovcr 65 years of died ‘I’hursdny, Sept. 30, from 7 to 9 p.ni. A iiiciiio- ing civic organization in thc all 4 categories is cligible for agc). The cuts, which in- 1999, at Blake Hospital. rial scrvicc will hc held Sat- coni1iiuni ty. the Michigan Merit Award surer Wayne Whittakcr, Supervisor Audrey I mlie and cluctc elimination of reiin- H rad c n t on , I I or i d a, urday, Oct. 9. at 1 :30 p.rn. Hc was born May 3 1, 1925, Scholarship worth $3,500 at hurscments for somc scr- His passing leavcs a void Autcri was otic of thc first tht: son of Meredith and Vir- any Michigan school. Thc Clerk Arthur Severance. vices, art: being phased in and hc will hc rcrnernhcrcd. workcrs for the Hills and ginia (Wilsey) Auten. He scholarship is also available ovcr a 5-year period. Rememhercd by thc ofiicials IMcs Mcdical Ccntcr, sew inarried Jeanne Bigelow to studcnts who pass 2 lev- For cxaiiiplc, the cost of of public :service organiza- ing as its trcasurer. Elc was Aug. 21, 1948, and the els and score in the top 25 doing :i pclvis CAT Scan is tions. Rcmernbcred by busi- thc pitst prcsidcnt of niany couple made their home in percent of the SAT and ACT $883 and the new reimhurse- ness associates and by staff’ Cas s C i t y or8an i z,;i t i ons . Cass City until moving to tests. mcnt ;mount is $250 rncmhers at the Cass City l’hcy includc thc C’lavcl Club, Florida several months ago Assistant Principal Russ In Michigan, hospitals arc Bank, wherc he scrved as C ti ani he r of Coni 111 c rc c, to be ncar thcir family.