Grand Traverse County commissioners approved several health-related proposals Wednesday, including allocating $150,000 to Pine Rest to support community child psychiatry services, dissolving the opioid task force and extending a consultant contract so commissioners can begin the next steps of disbursing funds, and receiving notice of plans to refinance $52.5 million in Munson bonds. Commissioners Wednesday also voted to transfer management of Duck Lake lake levels to Green Lake Township and authorized County Administrator Nate Alger to sign closing documents for Camp Greilick, with the county set to complete the park purchase next week.

Healthcare Proposals
Commissioners voted 6-3 Wednesday to use $150,000 in county marijuana tax revenues to help fund a child and adolescent psychiatrist and programming support at Pine Rest. That amount was scaled back from an original request of $400,000 and a failed 4-5 vote Wednesday to give Pine Rest $290,000, with some commissioners expressing concerns about the lack of a clear policy for spending marijuana tax revenues and deciding which local nonprofits to support.

Presentation materials shared by Pine Rest indicate the organization serves a broad range of clients – not just limited to Medicaid patients, specific referral sources, or population or problem-specific criteria – and serves ages two to 100. Organizational challenges include low reimbursement for behavioral health, costs incurred for proving broad access in a rural region, and local cost of living. “Most organizations do not flourish in our community without additional support from the community,” the presentation notes, adding that the Traverse City area “has a tremendous shortage of child psychiatric prescribers.”

Pine Rest Clinic Manager Kristine Wilmoth reiterated Wednesday that the nonprofit’s “biggest crunch is with child psychiatry.” Adding another child psychiatrist could expand its capacity by 500-600 patients, she said, and relieve the burden on local pediatricians struggling to fill the gap. Pine Rest, which is preparing to move into a more cost-effective building this fall, can make the new position sustainable once the hired psychiatrist gets up to speed and takes on a full caseload but needs help with initial start-up costs, Wilmoth said.

Most commissioners expressed support for Pine Rest’s work and the need for more child psychiatric services in Traverse City. Chair Rob Hentschel, who has a son with autism, said he’d not normally support government getting involved. But “I also see the need, and I don’t see anybody else stepping up to plug the hole,” he said. Other commissioners were more cautious about the finances involved and about allocating county marijuana funds without a clear policy in place. Grand Traverse County is in line to receive $886,295.25 in marijuana tax dollars this year, and multiple commissioners anticipated that Pine Rest’s request could inspire a series of copycat requests.

“Philosophically, I’m having an issue...it’s not the amount of money,” said Commissioner Darryl Nelson. “I think we need to do this right.” Commissioner Penny Morris said she understood concerns about “opening up the First National Bank of the BOC (Board of Commissioners)” to other funding requests, but believed the county’s allocation to Pine Rest “is an investment in our community and one that is much needed.” Commissioner TJ Andrews said that without a public process that’s “fair, transparent, and open to anybody” to request funding, the county will be “picking who we like and who we don’t like and giving them money...that’s just not a sustainable approach to distributing funds.”

Commissioners Nelson, Morris, Hentschel, Lauren Flynn, Ashlea Walter, and Brad Jewett ultimately voted to support the $150,000 allocation to Pine Rest, while Commissioners Andrews, Brian McCallister, and Scott Sieffert were opposed.

In other healthcare-related agenda items, commissioners voted unanimously to dissolve a local taskforce that’s worked over the last year to provide a recommended plan for disbursing county opioid settlement funds. That taskforce has completed its work and provided a strategic plan, which commissioners are expected to review at an upcoming meeting. The board has already been presented with some funding recommendations – such as expanding the Traverse City Police Department’s Quick Response Team into a countywide program – but have held off on most of those decisions until they can review the strategic plan in more depth.

Grand Traverse County’s opioid funds have grown from $5.6 million to $5.8 million as more settlements have been announced, a figure that is expected to “continue to grow,” according to Deputy Administrator Chris Forsyth. Commissioners Wednesday approved a contract addendum of $17,000 with Lakeview Consultants, the firm that’s been guiding the task force, for services provided beyond the contract scope and to provide upcoming assistance to commissioners with the strategic plan.

Finally, commissioners formally received notice Wednesday from the Grand Traverse Hospital Finance Authority of plans to refinance up to $52.5 million in Munson Healthcare bond debt by replacing several 2014 bonds with lower-interest 2024 bonds. The move presents a “value savings of approximately $10 million,” according to County Finance Director Dean Bott. The Hospital Finance Authority is a five-member board that was established to oversee the construction and repair of hospitals within Grand Traverse County, as well as lending money to hospitals and refinancing their debts.

Also at Wednesday’s commission meeting...
> Commissioners voted unanimously to negotiate an intergovernmental agreement to transfer management of the lake levels of Duck Lake from the county to Green Lake Township, a move that was supported by both Green Lake Township and Drain Commissioner Andy Smits. Township Supervisor Marv Radtke said he wasn’t originally interested in operating the Duck Lake Dam, but said he’d prefer to have “local control” than someone outside the township operating it. Dam ownership is not being transferred to the township, only its management.

> Commissioners approved a motion allowing County Administrator Nate Alger to effectuate the closing documents to complete the county’s $3 million purchase of the nearly 200-acre Camp Greilick property from the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy. Alger said the closing is expected to take place Tuesday. The county held a public input session earlier this month to discuss preliminary plans for the property, with a range of recreational uses and property improvements proposed to be rolled out over the next several years.