CHEBOYGAN, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – About ten years ago, Medicare stopped reimbursing for room-and-board for hospice care and that made it hard for hospice facilities to stay open. Add to that the pandemic challenges and the short staffing issues that are currently plaguing the country and you have a situation that doesn’t allow a hospice facility to be in a very stable financial situation. And with most people turning to in-home hospice care, that leaves Michigan with only 15 licensed hospice facilities in the whole state.
Barry S. Cargill, President & CEO of Michigan HomeCare & Hospice Association, told Michigan News Source that when Medicare stopped reimbursing for room and board in hospice facilities, they would typically find the funding through philanthropic contributions, grants, fundraising and other avenues through the community. But for some, they either can’t or won’t find the funding needed.
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Due to staffing shortages and other issues, McLaren Health has announced rather abruptly with little warning that their Cheboygan Hospice House is closing next week. In a statement that McLaren Health Management Group sent to Michigan News Source about the closure they said, “Effective October 3rd, 2023, McLaren Hospice’s 8-bed Hospice House in Cheboygan will be closing, with current patients transitioning to the 7-bed McLaren Hiland House in Petoskey, other area long-term care facilities, and/or McLaren community-based hospice care in coordination with patient family, caregivers, and providers. We make this difficult transition decision in the face of insurmountable staffing constraints. Staff will transition to other roles within McLaren, and McLaren Hospice will continue to provide community-based hospice service to Cheboygan area residents.”
The statement continues, “In order to continue meeting our community’s expectation for first-class hospice care and patients’ preference for community-based care within the home, McLaren Hospice is consolidating locations and transitioning care to address increasingly difficult post-pandemic challenges, including widespread staff shortages and burnout, rising expenses and regulatory burden, and reduced funding and reimbursement. Transitioning patients from a hospice house to community-based hospice care reflects McLaren Hospice’s dedication to providing personalized, patient-centric care, allowing patients to spend their final days in the comfort and familiarity of their own homes, surrounded by loved ones, and honoring their dignity at end-of-life.”
But not all families can take care of their loved ones in their homes whether that means financially, emotionally or physically.
Cheboygan resident 79-year-old Sandra Brown, whose husband Rich, was at the Cheboygan hospice facility about a year ago told Up North Live that if the facility wouldn’t have been there, she doesn’t know what she would have done. She was diagnosed with cancer and wasn’t able to give her husband the care that he needed at home. Instead, she was able to walk to the Cheboygan facility to visit with her husband. Brown said she never would have been able to drive to Petoskey, an hour away, especially in her condition. She said, “You’re all the way in Petoskey, that’s an hour away. Now, what on Earth would I have done when I was sick, and Richard in the hospice over in Petoskey. I could not have done it. I mean, I couldn’t drive over there. I could walk over to the hospice, but I couldn’t drive.”
As stated by McLaren, some of the Cheboygan patients will be going to Hiland Cottage Hospice in Petoskey which is owned and operated by McLaren Northern Michigan. But that facility could close too says a group in Petoskey called “Friends of Hiland Cottage Hospice.” The group found out only recently through the rumor mill that the McLaren might have the Petoskey hospice on the chopping block too and sent them a letter asking them to work with the group to keep the facility open. The letter, which says, “The Hiland Cottage Hospice House was built with community support 15 years ago and has served the community flawlessly since it opened” requests McLaren’s support in discussing the issue together to find a solution to make sure Hiland Cottage stays open and viable in the future. However, local business owner David McBride, a representative for the Friends of Hiland Cottage Hospice, says that the group hasn’t made any progress in being able to be involved in any high-level discussions.
In order to inform the community about the possible closing of the hospice and shine a spotlight on what’s going on, McBride says that the group has had informational meetings and there were also surveys done. Over 96% of the 400+ surveys resulted in the responders saying it would be a disaster if the facility closed. The group also held a rally on Thursday where over 50 people showed up. McBride says that another rally is planned on Sunday at 2 pm in front of the hospital to show their support for the Highland Cottage Hospice.
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McLaren didn’t address the October meeting regarding discussing the closure of the Petoskey hospice when Michigan Source asked for a comment but said, “Future decisions regarding additional hospice house transitions to community-based/at-home hospice care may occur with the coordination of community caregivers and leaders as we carefully evaluate how best to serve the hospice care needs of the Northern Michigan community amidst these challenges.”
McBride was contacted about 17 years ago to get on the board of Hospice of Little Traverse Bay, a board that managed and grew hospice care in the Petoskey area from scratch. They were able to raise $4.3 million from community members in Petoskey and Harbor Springs for the 7-bed facility after fundraising for the hospice. McBride says, “They located the property, designed the building and hired a contractor to build the building 15 years ago.” He said the building was built on what was then Northern Michigan Hospital’s property and he called it the perfect spot. The board gradually turned over the daily functions of managing the hospice care to the hospital (which was later bought by McLaren.) Before that, Hospice of Little Traverse Bay had their own fundraising division and events in the community to raise money for the facility.
McBride says that the money that was raised for the facility was to “provide compassionate care to those in need, those who have no other place to go or acquire additional services for when a loved one passes away.” He adds that it was “never built to be a money-making venture. It was built to be home-like, comfortable, a place where families can go and be with loved ones and enjoy the last days of their loved ones life or friends life in in that kind of home like setting.”
McBride says that for the past 15 years, that has been the situation. However, McLaren took over the Northern Michigan Hospital in 2012 and he says their focus is less and less about hospice and raising money or funding the facility and more about doing other things like building big additions to the hospital. Although McBride says they have graciously been supporting the facility, the hospital has told him it generates over a million-dollar loss each year. However, McBride is not clear if that number also includes the Cheboygan facility in that figure.
After meeting with the McLaren Foundation earlier, McBride says his group was told that in early October, the board of directors at McLaren would make a decision on the status of the Hiland Cottage. McBride has offered to meet with the decision-makers at the corporate office about moving forward as partners to keep the hospice open – helping not just financially but getting involved in the running and maintaining of the facility. McBride told them that there are many community members who want to step up and support the facility. McBride also says he has over 1,300 letters of support for the hospice. However, McBride’s offer to meet and to talk about the future of the hospice has been met with silence and he thinks that the hospital has a different agenda than his group or the rest of the community.
McBride says that the facility is very much needed and has been over 92% full since it was built. Sometimes there is even a waiting list, and he adds, “So we know those services are needed.” He also says that the staffing issue is temporary and can be overcome. He says, “There’s actually no reason to remove such a vital service from a community that loves it, and especially a community service that was paid for by small donations by the community prior to the hospital ever taking over.”
The hospice in Petoskey includes many amenities that are helpful and comforting to the families and the patients including privacy; security; family accommodations; scenic views of the wooded surroundings, wildlife and Little Traverse Bay; family room; meditation room; children’s playroom; family/patient kitchen and dining area; patient spa area; screened sun porch and more. On the McLaren website, it calls the facility a “home away from home.”
McBride says in his many conversations about the hospice Cottage, people have shared their experiences about the McLaren hospital itself and it hasn’t been very favorable. However, he thinks that keeping the hospice going would add to the goodwill so that the community could have a more positive view of the hospital.
In one of the many letters of support for the hospice facility, Amy Janssens writes about her mom, who had been diagnosed with dementia and ended up at the Hiland facility. Janssens wrote, “Hiland Cottage is part of the deep fabric of our community. I was honored to witness two family members dying with profound dignity at Hiland Cottage. In a world where so much is going wrong, we have a gem of something right – a community that teaches families how to face loss with love and dignity. A community that includes nurses, doctors, aids, social workers, clergy, and so many volunteers. Spend a day here, and you will live the definition of love in action.” She added what the true need for the facility is for many by saying, “Without the Hiland Cottage, all of this dying would have been done at my tiny home, my four children witnessing the intimacy of dying no child should have to see. The Hiland Cottage took us out of the role of drowning caretaker and gave us space to be with her (mom) again, allowing me space to care for my own family…The staff taught us how to help her die with the same love she shined on us…The staff cared for our entire family during this painful process.”
Janssens wrote about her mom’s fierce love for her family and her fierce determination to stay with the family as long as she could.
Janssens’ letter concluded with, “I am sure good reasons exist to shut down the Hiland Cottage. Instead, today, as leaders in our community, I ask you to choose fierce love. Hiland Cottage and its services are a gem, an essential cornerstone of our community. A hospital is many things, and let us remember that one of those things is service.”
