$32M in Michigan Pandemic Relief Still Available – How to Get It
It’s 2023, not 2020, but there’s still $32 million in Michigan pandemic relief available to residents who qualify. So, who can apply to get part of the $32 million fund?…
Female receptionist taking application form from her customer at health spa check in counter. They are wearing protective face masks due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Getty ImagesIt's 2023, not 2020, but there's still $32 million in Michigan pandemic relief available to residents who qualify.
So, who can apply to get part of the $32 million fund?
The money is homeownership debt relief for Michiganders impacted by the pandemic. It's available through the Michigan Homeowner Assistance Fund (MIHAF). According to the MIHAF, roughly $32 million in relief is remaining. It's available for Michiganders who are delinquent on a variety of their bills, including property taxes, mortgage payments, land contracts, mobile home lot fees and more. "This was a result of the American Cares Act,” Dawn Hengesbach, the MIHAF project manager, tells Fox 17. "We're a year and a half into the program, and so it's part of the COVID assistance with families and homeowners and helping them through some delinquencies as a result of the COVID pandemic."
So, who qualifies for the Michigan pandemic relief? To be eligible for this help, you must own and occupy your home. In addition, you must have a COVID-related hardship, such as taking care of someone in your family who had COVID. When you apply, you must explain how that hardship lowered your income or increased your expenses. If you quality, you can apply for help on the Michigan State Housing Development Authority's website.
"We recently modified the MIHAF program to include property tax assistance prior to the COVID pandemic because we realized that the need was there," Hengesbach tells Fox 17. "Once the pandemic hit, it put families struggling to pay those already delinquent property taxes even further behind so it just made it impossible to get caught up and it put them at a risk of losing their homes so it was our hope by expanding the program to include those prior tax years…that it would put families in a better position moving forward."
Just how safe are Michigan hospitals? According to a new survey, a dozen Michigan hospitals rank at the top of their class for patient safety. It's comforting to know that quality health care is so readily available in this state.
The new study was conducted by Leapfrog Group at HospitalSafetyGrade.org. "For more than 20 years, The Leapfrog Group has collected, analyzed, and published hospital data on safety and quality in order to push the health care industry forward," the publication stated. "Leapfrog's bold transparency has promoted high-value care and informed health care decisions — and helped trigger giant leaps forward in the safety, quality, and affordability of U.S. health care."
They add, "The Leapfrog Group is a nonprofit watchdog organization that serves as a voice for health care consumers and purchasers, using their collective influence to foster positive change in U.S. health care. Leapfrog is the nation’s premier advocate of transparency in health care—collecting, analyzing and disseminating data to inform value-based purchasing and improved decision-making."
Leapfrog looked at all of the major hospitals in the list and gave them a grade. Read on for the full list of all the Michigan hospitals that received an "A" grade in patient safety, followed by the hospitals that received a "B" grade. Congratulations to these great hospitals for their continued care.
Michigan Hospitals with an 'A' Grade for Patient Safety
This list is via Leapfrog Group at HospitalSafetyGrade.org.
Ascension Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo
Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo
Mercy Health Saint Mary’s in Grand Rapids
North Ottawa Community Hospital in Grand Haven
http://www.noch.org/
Sparrow Hospital in Lansing
Spectrum Health Big Rapids Hospital
Spectrum Health Lakeland Medical Center in St. Joseph
Spectrum Health Lakeland Niles Hospital
Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital
Spectrum Health United Hospital in Greenville
Spectrum Health Zeeland Community Hospital
University of Michigan Health-West in Wyoming
These Michigan Hospitals Received a "B" Grade
Read on for the Michigan hospitals that received a "B" grade.
