U.S. Rep. Lawrence Secures $2.1 Million for Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, Holocaust Memorial Center, and McLaren Oakland in House Appropriations 2022 Labor, Health and[...]

Washington, DC - Today, U.S. Representative Brenda L. Lawrence (MI-14), Vice Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, secured a total of $2.1 million for Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, the Holocaust Memorial Center, and McLaren Oakland. The funding is included in the FY 2022 House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies funding bill, which was marked up by the subcommittee yesterday. These are three of the Community Project Funding requests that Rep. Lawrence submitted in April.

'Our hospitals have been working overtime to keep our communities safe throughout this pandemic. As a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, I'm proud to have secured this funding so Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital and McLaren Oakland can get the resources they need to deliver the best care for Michiganders,' said Rep. Lawrence. 'As the Founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations, I'm grateful that we've appropriated funding for the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills to help advance and support its mission. During a time when antisemitism is on the rise, their efforts to educate our communities are more important now than ever before.'

'Henry Ford Health System is excited and grateful for Representative Lawrence for supporting our continued investment in healthcare and delivering comprehensive care close to home for our local communities,' said Denise Brooks-Williams, Henry Ford Health System Senior Vice President and CEO, North Market. 'The upgraded cardiac cath lab technology will close the gap on much needed technology that will improve patient care, but also expand our ability to perform new and more complex procedures,' said Eric Wallis, President, Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital.

'Our entire organization is immensely grateful to Congresswoman Lawrence for her vision and support in understanding the importance of providing Holocaust education across the state of Michigan,' said Rabbi Eli Mayerfeld, CEO of the Holocaust Memorial Center. 'This funding will enable HMC to increase vital access to students and their teachers by providing transportation for visits to our museum; Virtual Museum Experiences facilitated by HMC educators; and teacher trainings providing resources for impactful classroom lessons. Holocaust education is even more critical in our current environment with the dangerous rise of antisemitic incidents-a hate crime that is woefully underreported. Studies show that Holocaust education increases empathy, improves open-mindedness to differing viewpoints, creates a greater sense of social responsibility, and nurtures the willingness to stand up to negative stereotyping and acts of bias-necessary characteristics to turnaround the harmful antisemitic speech and actions in contemporary society.'

'McLaren Oakland serves a wide community for essential diagnostic testing. A subset of the population is disparate with pervasive chronic illnesses. The ability to provide prompt diagnostic recommendations for those at high risk for heart disease and other related diseases will promote early preventive treatments for the at-risk population within the Pontiac region. We applaud the efforts of Congresswoman Lawrence for including our critical work in her priorities for the health and wellness of the region,' said Margaret Dimond, PhD., President and CEO of McLaren Oakland.

Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital Cardiac Catheterization Technology Improvements

• Amount Secured: $1,150,000
• Intended Recipient: Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, located at 6777 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield, Michigan 48322
• Explanation of Request: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because the purchase of the Siemens Icono System, a type of x-ray equipment to improve image quality, lower radiation doses, and expand the types of procedures that can be conducted, would significantly expand the hospital cardiology team's ability to perform new and complex procedures to help the patients it serves. Heart disease, including coronary artery disease, heart attacks, and other cardiovascular conditions, is the leading cause of death in the United States, contributing to approximately 655,000 deaths per year. Heart disease is also the leading cause of death in Michigan, claiming more than 25,000 lives in 2019. More than 65 percent of Michigan's population is overweight or obese, and nearly 20 percent are smokers, both of which are large risk factors for cardiovascular conditions. In addition to impacting older adults, heart disease affects certain racial groups at disproportionate rates. Approximately 60 percent of African American adults ages 20 and older have cardiovascular disease. In Michigan, there is a higher rate of cardiovascular deaths among African Americans compared to other racial groups. More than one third of Wayne County residents and nearly 14 percent of Oakland County residents are African American, underscoring the need for cardiovascular care in Southeast Michigan.

Holocaust Memorial Center Education Programs

• Amount Secured: $550,000
• Intended Recipient: Holocaust Memorial Center, located at 28123 Orchard Lake Road, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48323
• Explanation of Request: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because, as Michigan's only Holocaust museum, and one of the largest such museums in the United States, the Holocaust Memorial Center (HMC) is the region's leading Holocaust learning center and a statewide force for groundbreaking education about tolerance, diversity, and justice. Holocaust education provides a pathway for people to confront issues involving loyalty, peer pressure, scapegoating, conformity and belonging. In particular, this project would focus on expanding learning opportunities for students across the state of Michigan. First, it would allow the HMC to strengthen its teacher-training program to include more private, parochial, and home schools, as well as teachers of English Language Arts, English language learners, students with disabilities and training of pre-service teachers completing their college coursework. Second, it would expand HMC's virtual museum experience by hiring educators and supervisors to collaborate with school districts across the state to learn about the Holocaust in a virtual setting. Finally, it would provide a subsidy that covers transportation costs and entrance fees for Title 1/31a schools throughout the state of Michigan.

McLaren Oakland Hospital Machine Purchase

• Amount Secured: $400,000
• Intended Recipient: McLaren Oakland Hospital, located at 50 North Perry Street, Pontiac, Michigan, 48342
• Explanation of Request: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because the purchase of a state-of-the-art 3D Echo-cardiogram machine would provide better diagnosis of the hospital's patients, leading to better treatment planning, coordination of care, and better outcomes for the patients McLaren Oakland Hospital, Pontiac serves. Cardiac issues are the number one cause of death in the U.S., and they are more prevalent in populations of color. In its pursuit to provide excellence of care to all patients, the purchase of the equipment would begin the path towards reducing inequities in patient populations in Pontiac and the surrounding communities that this hospital services. All measures used to decrease the large margin of inequity of care-even those seemingly smaller in aggregate-will start creating better health outcomes in marginalized populations. The hospital's Medicaid rate is 20.1%, which is significantly higher than most of the hospitals in the surrounding areas. As a result, the operational margins are very small and it is difficult to upgrade all of the equipment necessary to provide equitable care.

A summary of the bill is here. The text of the draft bill is here. In keeping with the Appropriations Committee's commitment to transparency, information on Community Project Funding in the bill is here.

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