Henry Ford museum, hospital win big in 2024 Michigan budget
Museum campus is already well-funded, without taxpayer aid
Two entities named after Henry Ford are set to receive a total of $24 million from Michigan taxpayers in 2024. The state budget grants the Henry Ford museum campus in Dearborn $4 million for roofing infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Henry Ford Health Center will get $20 million for campus redevelopment.
The Henry Ford reported $84,991,852 in total revenue in 2021. This is a sharp increase from its 2020 revenue of $34,541,749.
Years previous to 2020 saw total revenue for the museum remain consistently between $30-$40 million. The substantial jump in revenue in 2021 came from the museum selling $58 million in assets, according to its Form 990 filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
The Henry Ford Health System is a corporate entity with hospitals in metro Detroit and Jackson. U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, announced Sept. 9, 2022, that she had secured $7,625,122 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover COVID-19 expenses for the corporation. Now it is set to receive $20 million more from Michigan taxpayers for its campus. The system plans a $3 billion expansion, according to The Detroit News.
The health system made news on more than one occasion during the COVID-19 pandemic. It benefitted from two rounds of federal emergency assistance, as previously reported by CapCon in 2021. It was provided with staffing assistance after announcing it would be the first hospital system to require employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
As of September 2021, some 400 workers left their jobs over the vaccine mandate. The health system management denied said this had little impact on its operations. It then required two rounds of assistance from a federal government staffing program.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.