Latest news with #Hertel
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Michigan Health and Human Services director details impacts of federal cuts on state-level efforts
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel discusses Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's Fiscal year 2026 budget recommendations on Feb. 19, 2025. | Kyle Davidson Downsizing and mass job cuts put forth by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have already hampered public health officials in Michigan, Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel declared in court filings earlier this month. Kennedy announced in March that his department would be working to eliminate 20,000 total employees, consolidating DHHS's 28 divisions into 15 and closing half of its regional offices. However, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and 19 other attorneys general took action, arguing these cuts would functionally dismantle the DHHS, leaving it unable to do its job, with Nessel warning the decision could bring 'immeasurable harm' to the nation and healthcare if the courts do not step in. A federal judge has since blocked the Trump Administration from issuing further job cuts and reorganizing the Executive Department until a lawsuit brought by a collection of government workers' and healthcare workers unions is resolved. As part of these cuts, the DHHS is eliminating roughly 3,500 employees at the Food and Drug Administration, 2,400 at the Centers for Disease Control, 1,200 at the National Institutes of Health and 300 at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. HHS Dismantling_Hertel Decl as filed_5.9.25 In a declaration filed as part of the case, Hertel detailed how the reduction of staff and closure of several labs at the CDC alongside cuts at the FDA are hindering the state's work on disease testing, public health and tobacco monitoring. While the Michigan Department of Health and Human services runs its own Bureau of Laboratories, which is enmeshed with labs operated by the CDC and other states' public health agencies, the CDC's lab closures and staffing cuts have left states to fill the gaps. The Bureau was directly impacted by the closure of the CDC Viral Hepatitis Laboratory Branch and its discontinuation of hepatitis testing, and according to Hertel has not received consistent communication from the CDC about test discontinuations. 'As a result of sporadic changes to test offerings by CDC laboratories, the MDHHS Bureau of Laboratories has been unable to determine which tests to prioritize with confidence,' Hertel said. MDHHS also expects to see higher levels of test submissions for Hepatitis C due to the CDC's decision to discontinue testing. 'The MDHHS Bureau of Laboratories serves as the National HIV and Hepatitis C virus NAT Reference Center in cooperation with the CDC and the Association of Public Health Laboratories… if MDHHS shifts its lab capacity to Hepatitis C testing, the MDHHS Bureau of Laboratories staff will have less capacity to respond to other public health emergencies,' Hertel warned. The department has also felt a lack of central coordination on tests discontinued by the CDC, Hertel said, noting that if the national agency is not at full capacity, there won't be a central coordinating agency for responding to disease outbreaks. Bureau of Laboratories staff have also reported difficulties contacting CDC staff, Hertel said. In addition to its impacts on lab testing, DHHS cuts have also significantly impacted the state-level department's work on public health, with Hertel noting that the state relies on a partnership with several CDC programs for infectious disease detection and response activities. As a result, MDHHS staff say communications with CDC subject matter experts is now slow, reduced, or sometimes non-existent. Because key program staff are no longer with the CDC, there has also been confusion on points of contact and a reduced knowledge base, Hertel said. 'As a result, the CDC has failed to provide timely response to inquiries of urgent nature, reduced or eliminated national calls, and can no longer effectively serve as a national coordinator of infectious diseases efforts,' she said. As an example, Hertel pointed to reports from her staff that the CDC is no longer sending out-of-state travel notifications about potential disease exposures to Michigan residents, including notices for diseases with critical timelines, like measles. Staff reported that the CDC was not able to coordinate a recent multi-state effort to investigate a complex and urgent case of human rabies, and is no longer hosting 50-state calls on the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza response, despite ongoing concerns of a global bird flu outbreak. ' Overall, the mass termination of CDC personnel appears to have created a climate of fear for remaining staff, thereby undermining the ability of remaining CDC staff to effectively carry out their jobs by supporting state health departments like MDHHS,' Hertel said. These cuts have similarly left MDHHS without access to updated health data and data systems needed to identify emerging health crises and address disparities in healthcare, Hertel said. Cuts at the CDC have also bled into state-level efforts in preventing HIV, AIDS, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis. The CDC has also cut the entirety of its Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System team and shut down the program's data collection system. While Michigan was able to retrieve its 2024 data before the system shutdown, the CDC's team would normally statistically weight that data, meaning the unweighted data obtained by the state is unusable. 'To use the data, MDHHS would be required to contract with a survey statistician to properly weight this data, expending significant resources that would otherwise have been available from CDC staff,' Hertel said. The CDC also assists the state in monitoring and responding to lead poisoning in children, Hertel said. However, following significant cuts at the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, the MDHHS Environmental Health Bureau has received zero communication from the program. While the CDC previously sent notices about newly identified food and consumer products containing lead, those notices have stopped, Hertel said. MDHHS has similarly experienced issues in its environmental public health efforts including less frequent communications, the end of public health programming work groups with other states, and limited and inconsistent guidance from the CDC leaving the CDC Tracking Data Explorer without updated state-level data on drinking water, biomonitoring and radon. While the CDC also helps the state administer several chronic disease and injury control programs, significant staffing shortages and the loss or potential loss of CDC contracts has left MDHHS with little or no guidance, Hertel said, creating uncertainty regarding the future of these programs. The MDHHS Division of Child and Adolescent Health has also been impacted, Hertel said, with the Administration for Children and Families indefinitely postponing annual training for Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) teen pregnancy prevention grantees. Hertel also pointed to the effectively shuttering of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health as a major loss, noting the important role it played in preventing and reducing cigarette use by collecting and sharing information on smoking and its health impacts, including state level data on tobacco-use cessation treatments and high-quality reports on tobacco use trends. She also noted the loss of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, which was effectively shuttered when all members of its staff were terminated on April 1. 'Among other duties, [the Center for Tobacco Products] conducted compliance checks on vendors and retailers to ensure that tobacco products are not sold to those under the age of twenty-one, reviewed premarket applications for new tobacco products before they can be marketed in the United States, enforced advertising and promotion restrictions, and educated the public about the risks of tobacco use including the dangers of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products,' Hertel explained, later noting the state relied on both the Center for Tobacco Products and and the Office on Smoking and Health for its Tobacco programs. If Michigan does not receive support and funds from the Office on Smoking and Health, it stands to lose $2,347,639 in grant funding and other resources, Hertel said. Most of that funding supports Michigan Quitlink, which provides services to all Michigan residents for tobacco dependence treatment at a cost of just over $1.2 million annually. It also supports efforts to prevent youth tobacco use, offer healthcare provider training on tobacco dependence treatment and offer improved resources for schools to address vaping. A loss of support from the Center for Tobacco Products could also shutter the state's program ensuring retailers comply with laws banning the sale of tobacco products to underaged customers, as it has been unable to approve and process MDHHS's request for additional funds to remain fully operational during a 2-month contract extension, or issue a solicitation for new state funding. If the state program is shuttered, eight full time staff members would be laid off and $1.485 million dollars would be lost annually, Hertel said. An MDDHS spokesperson declined a followup interview on Hertel's behalf. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate passes sexual assault statute of limitations extension; Hall noncommittal on House action
Michigan Senate | Susan J. Demas Sexual assault survivors gained support from the Michigan Senate on Tuesday with the passage of bills to allow more time in filing civil lawsuits against their assailants, but it remains unclear if the Republican-controlled House plans to take up the bills. The upper chamber voted 25-9 to pass the five-bill package sponsored by Democratic Senators Kevin Hertel of Saint Clair Shores, Sam Singh of East Lansing, Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak, Jeff Irwin of Ann Arbor, and Veronica Klinefelt of Eastpointe. Together, the bills would give survivors of sexual assault or other criminal sexual conduct a 10-year window after a crime was committed, with a cutoff at the age of 42, or within seven years after discovering an injury or some other connection to the misconduct, or whichever is later. Survivors can file lawsuits to recover damages sustained from the criminal sexual conduct, which could be brought in court at any time if there was also a criminal conviction involved with the assault. Sexual abuse survivors again ask Michigan lawmakers for more time to sue perpetrators Regardless of the limitations listed in the package, the bills would allow a survivor who was victimized before the package's effective date to file a lawsuit for damages within one year after the effective date. In that case, a claimant could not recover more than $1.5 million. Other bills in the package would remove the existing 10-year statute of limitations, exempt claims to recover damages for criminal sexual conduct from the existing permanent prohibition on bringing a claim against the state, and would amend the state's government immunity law in various ways – including removing the immunity from tort liability for a public university, college or school district whose employee engaged in the misconduct while working there if the institution was negligent in hiring, supervising or training that employee. The same is true if the institution knew about the abuse and failed to intervene. In a statement, Hertel said survivors of sexual assault have for too long been denied their day in court and silenced by 'arbitrary deadlines and a system that failed them.' 'No more,' Hertel said regarding the Justice for Survivors package. 'At their core, these bills are about justice, accountability, and finally giving survivors the voice they deserve. With this legislation, we are shattering that silence and making it clear: Michigan will no longer be a place where assault is ignored and abusers get to walk free to continue their cycle of harm.' Michigan over the last several years made national headlines due to high-profile sexual assault or abuse cases, including the abuse perpetrated by the Larry Nassar scandal at Michigan State University and Robert Anderson at the University of Michigan. Attorney General Dana Nessel also spearheaded investigations into the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of American in Michigan during her tenure, which exposed abuses across generations. The making of a monster McMorrow said in a statement that Michigan's justice system needed to be reformed to a position of protecting survivors and not shielding abusers. 'With the passage of this legislation out of the Senate, we're one step closer to securing the access to justice that survivors deserve,' McMorrow said. Irwin in a statement touted the legislation's removal of immunity for large institutions to empower survivors 'to speak their truth and pursue justice that they deserve.' Klinefelt in a statement also noted that power institutions have shielded perpetrators while abuses happened under their watch. The bills would no longer allow those institutions to hide behind legal immunity when survivors come forward. 'We're ending that with this legislation and are restoring trust, delivering justice, and making sure survivors' voices are not easily swept under the rug.' The bills now move to the House, but it's unclear if they'll get traction in the Republican-controlled chamber. In a Tuesday news briefing, Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) appeared noncommittal on taking the bills up in the House. He also noted that his Democratic colleagues tried to pass similar legislation last session, but the effort died in a disastrous lame duck session that saw several key Democratic priorities grind to a halt. 'I haven't looked at it, but I think the idea of extending statutes of limitations for decades, or whatever it is, that creates a lot of questions, a lot of legal problems,' Hall said. 'We'll look at it. I haven't seen it, but you didn't see the Democrats move it when they were there, so it must have a lot of problems.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Yahoo
Remains Found on Island Identified as Woman Who Disappeared After Boating Accident Over 40 Years Ago
A California woman's remains have been identified more than four decades after some of her bones were found on the south shore of Simmons Island, authorities said. The identification of Patricia Ann Hertel's remains, which was announced in a press release by the Solano County Sheriff's Office on Friday, April 25, brings some resolution to her family's years-long search for answers. On Aug. 8, 1981, Hertel, then 39, went out on a fishing boat with her boyfriend in Suisun Bay when they encountered bad weather. When they didn't return, authorities launched a search, discovering her boyfriend's body and the sunken vessel several days later. Hertel was never found and authorities presumed she had drowned. Related: 15-Year-Old Boy Found Dead After Canoe Overturns in Lake: 'Worst Nightmare Come True' Almost two years later, on May 14, 1983, partial skeletal remains were found on the island near a private duck hunting club, which is more than 60 miles northeast of San Francisco. Investigators initially believed the remains belonged to an adult male, but despite continued efforts to determine "the identity and circumstances surrounding the death, the decedent was ultimately laid to rest without being identified." Forty years later, in July 2023, the body was exhumed as part of the Doe Cold Case Project and the case was reopened. This time, a DNA test proved that the remains were actually female, which then led to a 15-month long investigation into the deceased's identity. Through forensic genetic genealogy, additional DNA testing and other advanced methodologies, the Solano County Coroner's Office was finally able to solve the decades-old mystery and determine the remains belonged to Hertel. Related: Man Goes Missing While Driving to Visit His Dying Grandma. Weeks Later, He's Found Dead 'We offer our deepest condolences for their loss,' the sheriff's office said of Hertel's family members, who helped in the investigation. 'We hope this identification brings them a measure of closure.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. While Hertel's remains have been identified, the sheriff's office said that her missing persons case remains open as not all of her remains have been recovered. Authorities did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for additional comment. Read the original article on People
CBS News
10-03-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Michigan Matters: The riveting political road ahead
Newly elected Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel Jr. discussed his party and its future on CBS Detroit's Michigan Matters. Hertel, a former state senator who hails from a well-known political family, was elected to the top job a few weeks ago during his party's state convention held in Detroit. He talked about his immediate focus and path ahead for Democrats in the state and nationally after President Trump successfully won back the White House in November. He shared insights on upcoming races for U.S. Senate, governor, attorney general and others. Hertel discussed Mr. Trump's speech to Congress and tariffs targeted at Canada, Mexico and China and the impact on the state. Then the roundtable of Jim Holcomb, president and CEO of Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Maureen Donohue Krauss, president and CEO of Detroit Regional Partnership, and Jeff Donofrio, president and CEO of Business Leaders For Michigan, discuss tidings in the state with politics being a central theme. The trio discussed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's recent state of the state speech and what it means for business, the state of education and more. (Watch Michigan Matters at its new time: 5:30 a.m. Sundays on CBS Detroit, 9:30 a.m. Sundays on Detroit 50 WKBD).
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Curtis Hertel elected Chair of Michigan Democratic Party
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — The Michigan Democratic Party has elected former State Sen. Curtis Hertel as the new party Chair. The Party says this follows former Chair Lavora Barnes's decision to step down from the position. The election was made earlier today at the Michigan Democratic Party Spring State convention. Hertel released the following statement after stepping into his new role: Working people deserve better, and I'm ready to roll up my sleeves to ensure Democrats can deliver at every level of the ballot in Michigan. As we face the fiercest test of our democracy in our lifetime, Michigan Democrats are stepping up to fight back and protect our communities all across the state. We are going to hold Republicans accountable for each and every time they've sold out middle-class Michiganders to pad the pockets of billionaires. Curtis Hertel, news release Hertel lost to Tom Barrett in the U.S. House 7th District election in Nov. 2024 by nearly four percentage points. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
