Mark Sanchez: It has basically sunset as of May 1st and this is a series of stories we've done in the last week. You can find these stories on the crainsgrandrapids.com website where we looked at first, kind of a history of this foundation and what it's done, which is bottom line, $1.1 billion in contribution to more than a thousand organizations over a half century, 54 years that the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation was operating and that's a lot of money. That's impressive. And they funded so many things. Look at what Grand Valley has today with the Pew Campus downtown. Look at what Corewell Health or Spectrum Health has become. And they were heavily involved in funding DeVos Children's Hospital. The Grand Rapids Symphony was another one of their big. causes. In fact, over 53 years was one of the recipients of the grant funding from the DeVos Foundation. So, the foundation is now sunset and it's a series of stories we did last week we kind of documented the operations in that history and that's what really these stories were is telling that history of this period. And this is part of the history of Grand Rapids. Folks ask, well, why sunset now? Why cease operations now? And we talked to Dick DeVos, Dan DeVos, Doug DeVos and Cheri DeVos and they all talked about what their parents wanted was for this to eventually come to an end after their passing a number of years back and then each of those family members, they all have their foundations and even some of the grandchildren have their foundations and what the older generation wanted was for their children to feel free to pursue their causes and fund and support what they wanted instead of kind of looking back at well was this mom and dad's intent. So yes, that philanthropy carries on with the next generations. But for now, that original foundation created back in 1969 as Amway Corporation really grew and prospered and the family began to build this wealth, this enormous wealth, that we know today. They created this foundation to really organize and structure their tithing and their giving. Interesting anecdote that Dick DeVos tells in the story about how even before that they were committed to giving they used to take money each week, put it in an envelope and give to church or give to organizations. And then 1969, they created the foundation to really structure and organize the giving and the funding they were giving out to organizations.
Patrick Center: Their philanthropic philosophy has influenced, not only Grand Rapids, but the region.
Mark Sanchez: Yeah, you cannot deny what Grand Rapids is today, especially how much this town has changed over the last 20, 25 years. Again, you've got this world-class children's hospital up here on the hill. You've got the campus for Grand Valley that really generates a lot of activity in downtown. You have the convention center that went up, boy, that's almost 20 years ago now. So, you cannot deny at all the effect that this has had. This philanthropic giving and these major families have had on the growth and development of the Grand Rapids over a number of several years.
Patrick Center: And that growth and development continues. Kent County voters will decide a hotel tax increase in the August election for a few more transformational projects.
Mark Sanchez: Yeah, there are of course two big projects that continue this outgrowth of what's been going on many years. The amphitheater, the soccer stadium, there on the west side of downtown and also now talk about an aquarium getting developed here in town. And of course, to do all this it all comes down to funding. So last week, after the state legislature passed and Governor Whitmer signed the bill, the Kent County commissioners decided to put a tax on the ballot. It's a lodging tax. It would allow, if voters approve it in the August primary election, it would allow the county to increase the tax beyond the present 5% and go up to 8%. This would generate some revenue from mostly out of town visitors coming to Grand Rapids for various events or to visit. And this would start creating the funding mechanism to finance these two projects. They’re a couple of big projects soccer stadium, I believe the latest estimates, $175 million, the amphitheater, $184 million. And the economic impact that's been projected is about, let's see, $2.9 billion over a decade, once these two facilities are up and operating. So, this is the lunch pin. It comes down to funding, and county commissioners put it on the ballot, and now it's up to the voters to decide whether they wish to raise this lodging tax on rooms in Kent County in order to generate some revenue to finance these two projects.
Patrick Center: We're talking with Crain's Grand Rapids Business senior writer Mark Sanchez. Half of Grand Rapids area hospitals earned a top grade in a report card on patient safety.
Mark Sanchez: Yeah, this is an organization called the Leapfrog Group. And let's just get a little background first. In the late 90s, there was a report about just how many deaths occur in America each year through preventable medical errors at hospitals. And in fact, in 2021, accidents, injuries, infections were the fourth leading cause of death in America behind COVID, cancer, and heart disease. That's according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And unintentional injuries in hospitals that year in 2021 were responsible for almost 225,000 deaths. So, out of that data that starts coming together there in the late 90s and there was a landmark report called To Err Human that came out that really identified this. This organization that advocates for patient safety, the Leapfrog Group was formed and twice a year it puts out a report card on hospitals that has a bunch of variables, a lot of metrics, about 30 measures to measure safety and quality at hospitals and the spring report card that came out last week, half of the eight hospitals in the Grand Rapids market got an A. Hats off to those folks who got an A. That's Holland Hospital, Trinity Health Grand Rapids, and Corewell Health hospitals in Greenville and Zeeland. Plus, there are a number of hospitals, four other ones, all got a B grade, which is a good grade. That's Trinity Health Grand Haven, Corewell's Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, Blodgett in East Grand Rapids, and Lakeland Niles Hospital down in the southwest part of the state. Talking to somebody at the Leapfrog Group last week, they said this goes to show that you have pretty good health care in Grand Rapids, and your patients, people seeking care, have a good choice in pursuing a quality provider. And that's the key here is especially with health care so expensive and health insurance so expensive is, you know, your insurers really want to steer people to the best providers. Now that's the good part about this report that came out here a week or so ago in the Leapfrog report in the spring report card is you have some good hospitals getting an A. Well, you also had some hospitals that got a C grade. That's Bronson Battle Creek, Bronson Methodist in Kalamazoo and the University of Michigan West here in Wyoming, here in the Grand Rapids area. Plus, the hospitals over in the Lansing, Greater McClaren, Greater Lansing, and Sparrow. So that's a little worrisome. You never want to see your grades go down, just like when we were all in school, but it's a report card that shows how the hospitals are doing. And right now, Grand Rapids, the market ranked, I believe, 19th out of 25 markets in the nation in terms of the percentage of hospitals that received a top grade and A grade in the spring report card.
Patrick Center: Report cards can also be motivational.
Mark Sanchez: No, we've, we've seen, uh, health systems respond to that. Said, Hey, we're not happy about this C grade. Just like when your kids come home and you don't like their report card, you have a conversation. How do you do better? What's not working? What's working, how do you do better, and you pick them up, and these CEOs, there are some that are committed to picking up their organization and saying we need to do better.
Patrick Center: Crain's Grand Rapids Business senior writer, Mark Sanchez, thank you so much.
Mark Sanchez: Thank you, Patrick.