Nonprofit had ‘overdue discussions’ on growing state health contracts – The Detroit News

Lansing The leader of a nonprofit whose work for the statehealth department has ballooned during the COVID-19 pandemic said the group has had "long overdue discussions" about imposing stricter requirements for contracts involving the state.

Michigan Public Health Institute CEO Renee Branch Canady appeared before a House Appropriations subcommittee Wednesday, telling lawmakers that she started having conversations on the matter with Elizabeth Hertel of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services prior to Hertel's becoming the department's director on Jan. 22.

The nonprofit, which was created through a state law to assist the state with public health research, disclosed $166 million in funded projects for this fiscal year, up 93% from $86 million in projects two years earlier. The Detroit News reported last week on concerns about the group's close ties to the department and the fact it falls outside transparency and bidding protocols government agencies face.

Renee Branch Canady, chief executive officer of the Michigan Public Health Institute, speaks to Michigan House members during a subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021.(Photo: Michigan House TV screenshot)

This is not like private sector business," Canady said of the nonprofit Wednesday. "Although its public health and we often have to move expediently, we dont cut corners to move expediently."

Canady acknowledged that the organization's budget had grown during the pandemic and that 90% of its funding flows from the state. But she said the institute isnot a "pass through" for the department.

Canady and Hertel recently discussed shifting some information technology contracts back in-house to the state and limiting the number of employees contracted through MPHI to work at the state health department, Canady said.The discussion was "long overdue," she said.

"The vast majority of MPHI terminations are terminated because the department has been able to convert the position to acivil service position, which is the ideal," Canady said.

MPHI's growing budget has prompted worries about the accountability of those dollars. The nonprofit's employees have grown from roughly 300 to 900 in recent years. During a recent Attorney General's office investigation into a contract involving MPHI, a state procurement officer said the health department "often used MPHI to avoid oversight."

But Canady and Hertel disagreed, noting a large chunk of the federal funds flowing through the agency had strict use and reporting requirements.

Republican lawmakers pressed Canady for more information on MPHI's role in the health department's functions.

Rep. Mary Whiteford, R-Casco Township, chairwoman of the House Appropriations Health and Human Services Subcommittee, noted that state employees told theAttorney General's office representatives that MPHI was used to get contracts executed more quickly.

Canady said she wasn't sure how the department decides which contracts would be managed by the institute.

Rep. Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Township, questioned whether MPHI was subject to the Freedom of Information Act, the law that requires government agencies to make records available on request.

Canady replied that her understanding is the institute is not subject to FOIA, but she added that the organization is transparent.

When all state departments were placed on a hiring freeze during the pandemic last year, MPHIcontinued hiring because it is not under the same civil service rules, Canady also told lawmakers.

The nonprofit hires hundreds of contract employees to work within the state's 14,000-employee Department of Health and Human Services. The agency'semployees can drive state-owned vehicles and members of the state health department are on the governing board of MPHI.

The institute gained the spotlight last year when state officials used it to establish a nearly $200,000contract with a Democratic-linked groupas the state sought to ramp up its contact-tracing efforts at the peak of the pandemic. The contract was eventually canceled amid media scrutiny.

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Nonprofit had 'overdue discussions' on growing state health contracts - The Detroit News