Monday, July 06, 2009

One of Last Two Poison Control Centers In State Closes Due to Cancellation of State Funding. This week, one of the two poison control centers in the state closed, and it's uncertain how long state funding will hold out for the remaining center in Detroit. The center at the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids had warned the state that if its $250,000 in annual state aid was yanked, it would fold. Centers are funded with a combination of state, federal and private funds. For Michigan residents - and doctors - the centers are a resource for information when people ingest or are exposed to dangerous drugs or chemicals or plants. The Grand Rapids center handled 35,000 to 40,000 calls a year from about 67 Michigan counties. The traffic now will have to be picked up by the only remaining poison control center in the state - one located at the Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit. Together the two centers last year handled more than 112,760 calls, and it's unclear how the closing of the center will impact Michigan residents. Detroit officials were unavailable for comment Thursday, but Rossman noted that 11 toxicology experts from Grand Rapids have been contracted by the Detroit center to help with the increased volume of calls. The majority of calls to the centers are from Michigan residents looking for help, according to state Community Health officials. However, more than 13 percent of the calls received in 2008 were from doctors wanting to know how best to treat patients. For the full article, see Christine Rook, "G. Rapids poison control site closes; State aid cuts mean Detroit center is last in state, likely also threatened", Lansing State Journal, July 4, 2009. [Red Tape Blog] 11:13:50 AM

© Copyright 2009 Jocelyn Shaw. Last update: 8/3/2009; 10:36:16 AM. Photo curtesy of Marjorie O'Brien