Mark Sanchez: It really is an interesting trend that's emerging here. This is a really fine story by my coworker, Abby Poirier here at Crain’s Grand Rapids, that in this digital age where so much of our day-to-day everything we do is digital. Bookstores are booming and they're making a comeback. Kind of like if you have a teenager or 20-something in the house and you have a vinyl collection of your music, that's become quite popular again. And I've got a couple of 20-somethings and one of them has basically raided my entire vinyl collection. And it's great to see them connecting with that older music when I was their age. But now we're seeing this emergence of the trend toward more bookstores, and we have at least five locally owned as well as national chains that have opened or plan to open new bookstores in Grand Rapids. Recently, and that's as retail is kind of leading to the area's younger demographics and social media driven reading trends, and you know, lingering consumer demands or something in this post-Covid pandemic era. So, there are two new independent bookstores in Grand Rapids, one in Byron center that opened for the first time. Barnes and Noble has broken ground on a third Grand Rapids area store. And there's another one Love Bound Books and Gifts planned for downtown Grand Rapids. So, it's an interesting, you're right, it's an interesting trend that's emerging here and at least here in Grand Rapids in this digital age. Reading a book, whether whatever type of novel you like, I like mystery novels myself. There's something about sitting there in the evening, whether hanging out in the yard or sitting on the couch in the recliner in the living room each night having something in your hand or lying in bed. There's something about that that's just relaxing and different and kind of grounds you a little bit. Perhaps that's what the younger generation is in touch with in this era of, again, so much as fast-paced and the digital age. Bottom line, we're seeing bookstores here in this marketplace beginning to really gain in popularity.
Patrick Center: We're talking with Crane's Grand Rapids Business Senior Writer Mark Sanchez. Surprise medical bills. There are some state lawmakers gaining some ground, building a coalition to address this at the state level.
Mark Sanchez: This is a law adopted a couple of years ago to address surprise medical billing. And this is what happens when you go in, maybe you have a procedure done, a surgery done, and perhaps an anesthesiologist is assigned to your case who's considered what's called out of network. That means they don't have a contract with that health insurance company you have that pays them that reimbursement. So, what happens, there's contract charge and there's what they charge basically sticker price. And you as the consumer, as the patient, if you have an out of network provider, you have to pay that difference between what your health insurer will pay and what that provider is charging. So, this was really becoming quite an issue in the legislature a few years ago enacted this law in Michigan. And what we see now was kind of an analysis done by the Economic Alliance for Michigan based over in the Detroit area. It's a business labor coalition that took a look at how well is the law working to really cut down on these surprise medical bills that consumers just don't expect. And in some cases, they can get quite large. Bottom line, the law appears to be working and it requires care providers to inform the patients in advance of a scheduled procedure that their health insurer might not cover all of their medical services and then give them an option to request an in-network provider. It really puts down some safeguards intended to protect the consumer. And since the law was enacted, the percentage of in-network care providers in Michigan who contract with health insurers, that's increased to 89% from a low of about 82% in 2019. And more than 80% of the insurance claims in Michigan in 2019 were for in-network claims. By the end of 2023, a couple of years after this law had gone into effect, that had risen to 89% or more than 89%. That's an indication that there were fewer of these surprise medical bills out there in Michigan right now, and perhaps the law is working exactly as intended.
Patrick Center: Sticking with medicine, this is a large project impacting not just the state of Michigan, but really across the Midwest and beyond. And that is the Mary Free Bed Pediatric Hospital moving forward.
Mark Sanchez: Yeah, this is a big deal. This is a big project. It's one of two really pediatric specialty hospitals that we're seeing. Pine Rest has a pediatric center it's a building on its campus south of town. And last week, Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital had a ceremonial groundbreaking for a $70 million pediatric center going on here across from its main hospital near downtown. Governor Whitmer was there, and we spoke to her before the event, and she really had some high praise for this perhaps uniquely West Michigan-Grand Rapids model of public-private collaboration. There is $15 million that the state has allocated across a couple of budget years for this project. There's another $3 million in federal funding that has been steered to the project. The rest has come from private philanthropy, which as of last week, Mary Free Bed through public and private sources has raised $66.5 million toward this new hospital. It's again, it's a $70 million project. And the governor was actually quite complimentary about the way Grand Rapids does business on these projects, which is a public-private collaboration. They partner and it's for the benefit of all. So, the project is underway. It's under construction. It's a 60,000 square foot, three story Joan Secchia Children's Rehabilitation Hospital, and it should open toward the end of 2026.
Patrick Center: And the services that it will provide are truly amazing and will draw patients from across the Midwest and beyond.
Mark Sanchez: That's part of the vision for this. You remember years ago Mary Free Bed, probably more than a decade ago, formed this kind of a coalition. It's kind of a regional network where it's now it has 73 sites across Michigan and some of the other states such as Ohio, Indiana. So, it's really grown exponentially through this network. And there's a belief that yes, this is going to be the first of its kind in Michigan. And there's only a handful of these types of hospitals dedicated to treating young patients for rehab in the Midwest. So, there's a thinking that this is really going to be a destination for folks seeking rehabilitation for young patients in Michigan, as well as drawing from around the Midwest and perhaps from around the country.
Patrick Center: Crain's Grand Rapids Business Senior Writer, Mark Sanchez. Thank you so much.
Mark Sanchez: Thank you, Patrick.