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VOLUME 73 – Number 30★

April 7-13, 2010 479 Ledyard • Detroit MI 48201 313.963.5522 $1.00

DMC: We want the best for Detroit

New ownership will not change care for the underserved, DMC officials say

Plummer launches bold campaign for congress as candidate for change (C-4, C-5):

Broadcasting entrepreneur and Detroit pastor Glenn Plummer has set forth on a bold campaign to get elected to the 13th Congressional District. Plummer has called for the region’s congressional delegation to work in unison more often, and has proposed a national industrial policy to regain America’s lost manu- facturing edge. He also called for bolder and more visionary leadership in order to address the current economic crisis.

Dick Blouse, a key player in Detroit, exits

For the last 14 years, Dick

Blouse has served as presi- dent and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber. Soon he will step into the position of president emeritus and turn the reins over to his successor, Sandy K. Baruah.

Dick Blouse Baruah will have big shoes

to fill. In his tenure at the helm of the Detroit Regional Cham- ber, Blouse helped make it the largest chamber of commerce in the United States, increas- ing the membership from 10,000 to more than 23,000. He was also instrumental in creating the Detroit Regional Economic Partnership and the Coalition for Regional Transit.

Blouse also brought the

chamber into partnership with a diverse group of business organizations throughout the region. Their common goal is to help businesses succeed.

Former mayor of Birmingham heads to prison (A-3):

Larry Langford, former

mayor of Birmingham, Ala., is heading to prison to serve a 15-year sentence. He was convicted on charges of ac- cepting bribes while serving as president of the Jefferson County Commission.

Michigan Chronicle launches first technology page (B-1):

Word has already spread re- garding the Apple’s new iPad, which has received mostly favorable reviews from critics and users alike.

Dr. John Dunn

With significant Detroit

admission, WMU moves to enhance outreach to city

By Bankole Thompson

CHRONICLE SENIOR EDITOR

Of the 25, 000 students who attend

Western Michigan University, one of five research institutions in Michigan, Detroit accounts for 30 percent of that enrollment.

University President Dr. John Dunn

and trustee Dennis Archer, former mayor of Detroit, said in an interview with the Michigan Chronicle on March 31 that WMU wants to increase its out- reach to Detroit.

That numbers show how students

from the city are variedly represented across the state’s higher insitutions and counters the notion that Detroit can easily be written off despite being the largest city in Michigan.

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Dunn said the Detroit enrollment

numbers for his campus show how students from the city are adding to a

diverse campus where students from 90 nations are represented.

With the current economy, WMU is

still trying to help financially disad- vantaged students meet their academ- ic goals. Dunn said that even though financial assistance from the state has declined from what was once — $5.9 million to a little over $700,000 toda — his institution is still committed to helping those underprivilege students get their education from WMU.

“We’ve created a program for any

child that ages out of foster care, meets the requirement for admission to get full scholarship and room and board at our university,” Dunn said.

He said the foster care educational

program is helping to address a need in the community. Many youth from the foster care system across the state now see WMU as their home for higher learning.

Candidates for

governor to explain urban agenda

Freedom Institute will hold a special town hall

meeting on the upcoming gubernatorial election dur- ing Freedom Weekend.

Rev. Wendell Anthony, founder of the Freedom Insti-

tute for Economic, Social Justice and People Empow- erment, has announced a special Michigan Town Hall meeting during Freedom Weekend IX. It will be held on Thursday, April, 29, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Cobo Con- ference Center. The theme is “Michigan, What is the Urban Agenda?” Confirmed participants for the forum include Alma Wheeler Smith, state senator; Virg Bern- aro, mayor, city of Lansing; Pete Hoekstra, congress- man, Michigan’s 2nd Congressional District; Andy Dillon, Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Other candidates are still confirming their partici-

pation. Bankole Thompson of the Michigan Chronicle and

Vickie Thomas of WWJ Newsradio 950 will serve as moderators of the gubernatorial town hall meeting.

“It is important for those who wish to represent the

state of Michigan to include the city of Detroit in their vision,” said Anthony. “Detroit is the largest city in the state of Michigan. We are not in competition for any region; we are a complement to the entire region. It is important for Republicans, Democrats and Inde- pendents to speak to the needs of every Michiganian, which includes Detroiters. As we face crisis in home foreclosures, the need for new industry, challenges in our educational system and certainly a demand for jobs, jobs, and more jobs, we need visionary and daring leadership.”

The town all meeting is being presented at no

charge. Freedom Weekend IX, scheduled for April 29 through May 1, will have a number of events for the entire family, and everyone throughout the state of Michigan is invited to attend. All events will be held at Cobo Conference Center. Freedom Weekend precedes the 55th Annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner spon- sored by the Detroit Branch NAACP. The theme for this year’s dinner is “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs and National Health Care — A Matter of Justice, Privilege or Right?” All events for Freedom Weekend are sponsored by the Freedom Institute, a 501(c) 3 urban think tank.

For further information, please go to the website, www.freeinst.org or call (313) 347-2834.

Pete Hoekstra Alma Wheeler Smith Virg Bernero

PICTURED FROM LEFT are Dr. Herman Gray, president, Children’s Hospital; Cassandra Smith Gray, corporate executive director of Community Affairs, DMC; Mike Duggan, president and CEO, DMC; Dr. Iris Taylor, president, Detroit Receiving Hospital; and Conrad Mallet, president, Sinai Grace Hospital.

— Andre Smith photos

Detroit must compete by providing high standard health facilities

By Bankole Thompson

CHRONICLE SENIOR EDITOR

W

ith the passage of the his- toric health care legislation, coverage for the uninsured is

now at the center of the national con- versation around health care as the new law that, among other ben-

SPECIAL REPORT

efits, will prohibit denying insur- ance to patients with preexisting conditions.

Covering the

Bankole Thompson

uninsured and low-income earn- ers has been the hallmark of the Detroit Medical Center for de- cades.

And now as DMC prepares to be

Mike Duggan

under the new ownership of the Van- guard Health Systems, moving from a nonprofit to for-profit status, DMC of- ficials say the health system will con- tinue providing medical care to the underserved — a role that has long dis-

tinguished the DMC from every other health system in the state — in De- troit.

DMC President/CEO Mike Duggan,

accompanied by four of the health sys- tem’s top executives, including Dr. Iris Taylor, president of Detroit Receiving Hospital; Dr. Herman Gray, president of Children’s Hospital; Conrad Mal- lett, president of Sinai Grace Hospital; and Cassandra Smith Gray, corporate executive director of Community Af- fairs for DMC, visited the offices of the Michigan Chronicle on April 1 for an editorial meeting.

All five executives said the reason

for the immediate transfer of owner- ship to the Vanguard is to get the best deal for DMC while it still remained a profitable institution.

“We are the hospital system that

treats everybody regardless of their ability to pay. That’s who we are and that’s really our core. The reason we are doing this deal is we think it’s a whole lot more likely that DMC will be around for future generations,” Duggan said.

For the last six years, according to

Duggan, DMC has remained profitable — in the black — unusual in such a

dire economy which triggered some of its board members, such as Roger Penske, to explore the idea of getting investors.

“When you are a nonprofit that

means you have no investors. You have no one to turn to when things are going badly,” Duggan explained. “The only way you can get money for the latest equipment or modern facility is you go to Wall Street and borrow it.”

Going to Wall Street, Duggan said,

would mean having to repay those loans in 20 years.

“We think Detroit is going to lose

population, remain poor and therefore we can’t borrow any money at all to modernize,” Duggan said.

However, he said the irony is that

some of the suburban health systems that have lost money have not had any trouble borrowing huge amounts of money which in itself has affected De- troit.

“The nonprofit model has been a di-

saster for the city of Detroit in health care. You’ve seen all of these non- profits either close their hospitals or moved into the suburbs,” Duggan said.

See DMC page A-4

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