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Rural hospital leaders tell lawmakers standby pay, not rebuilds, can keep birthing units open

Michigan House Appropriations Committee · January 29, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Munson Health and other witnesses told the committee that unpaid 24/7 obstetric on-call costs are the leading reason small hospitals close birthing units and urged the RHTP to include predictable standby funding (task-force recommendation: up to $500,000 annually per birthing hospital) to preserve access.

LANSING — Rural hospital leaders pressed the House Appropriations Committee on Jan. 27 to include specific, predictable support for maternity services in the state’s Rural Health Transformation Program application.

Peter Maranoff, president and CEO of Munson Health South Region, told the committee that "the single greatest driver of OB unit closures is the unpaid cost of maintaining 24/7 obstetric coverage" and urged implementation…

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