Michigan Gov. Whitmer vetoes bill to expand legal protections for health care industry – By Craig Mauger (The Detroit News) / Aug 10 2020
Lansing — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed Monday a bill from the GOP-controlled Legislature that would have provided additional liability protections for health care workers and facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a letter to lawmakers about her decision, the governor said the Republican proposal went “much further” than the protections established in her past executive orders. The bill would have given health care providers “broad immunity” every time an emergency is declared “regardless of whether the circumstances demand this extreme measure,” Whitmer said.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer visits an emergency shelter for flood evacuees at Midland High School. (Photo: Office of the Michigan Governor)
“A person receiving treatment at a hospital or a resident in a nursing home would be powerless to seek relief when they are harmed in any but the most egregious cases,” Whitmer wrote.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Michael MacDonald, R-Macomb Township, was developed after discussions with the health care community to recognize the unprecedented pressures and changing guidance medical personnel faced daily during the pandemic, MacDonald chief of staff Eric Stocker said previously.
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