Health Professionals for Affordable Water: Sign-on Letter

To: Honorable Members of the Michigan State Legislature

The undersigned health professionals express our strong support for passage of the water affordability bills pending in the Senate and House (SBs 549-553 and SB 25 and HBs 5088-5093). We urge State Senators and House Representatives to pass the bills and send them to Governor Whitmer for her signature. 

Clean, accessible drinking water is a necessity of life. It keeps human bodies hydrated, cool, and functioning on a warming earth. It is also vital to control the spread of viruses and diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor called for a restoration of water service to disconnected homes and the legislature followed with a moratorium on water shutoffs during a critical period of public health fears, illness, and loss of life. 

In Michigan, water bills have become unaffordable for many residents, thereby, leading many people to choose which bills to pay. Households may have to decide between cutting back on medication, groceries or housing costs. We also know that patients will sometimes defer necessary healthcare if they cannot afford co-pays, premiums, and prescriptions. 

Water insecurity can also cause immense mental health stress and physical harm when families self-ration water to reduce household bills. Water disconnections can lead to terrible health consequences that affect student performance, worker productivity, and family safety.  Overdue water bills may be transferred to property taxes and can lead to home foreclosures. Water shutoffs are also grounds for children to be removed from their parents or guardians by the state. 

The Water Affordability bill package will protect the health of our residents by providing water bills that customers can afford to pay, plus eliminate dire consequences. A new Critical Care Customers category will protect medically-documented vulnerable residents from water shutoffs regardless of their income.

As health professionals, we call on you to ensure access to clean, affordable water and sanitation for Michiganders. Water is a human need and right.  Over a decade ago, a bipartisan legislature voted to help low-income residents pay their heating and energy costs with the MEAP program. It is time to do the same for water and sanitation by passing Water Affordability legislation.   

A summary of the bills and more information about water affordability in Michigan can be found at MIWaterPlan.com 

(Please sign below, alphabetized by location)

  1. Ruth Kaleniecki,  Allen Park, Henry Ford Health, LMSW
  2. Charlie Sears, Berkely, Retired Social Worker
  3. Linda Remington, Beverly Hills, Karmanos Cancer Institute
  4. Dr. Paul von Oeyen, Bloomfield Hills, Retired High-Risk Obstetrician, Beaumont University Hospital 
  5. Margaret Savage, Dearborn, Registered Nurse
  6. Davis Ippel, Dearborn, VP Ambulatory Services, Oakwood Health System 
  7. Dr. Clara G. Zundel, Detroit, Behavioral Neuroscientist, Wayne State University School of Medicine
  8. Michael Simon, Detroit, Professor of Oncology and Medicine, Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University
  9. Zoe Steinfield,  Detroit,  Clinical Social Worker
  10. Caitlin Fleming, , Detroit, Licensed Professional Counselor
  11. Susan Newell, Detroit,  Retired Nurse
  12. Trish Hubbell,  Detroit, Project Community Health, community engagement managerDetroit, 
  13. Devarsh Desai,  Detroit, Medical Assistant, Trinity Health Primary Care
  14. Mary Ellen Howard, BSN, MA,  Detroit, Retired Nurse & Healthcare Administrator
  15. Rachel Levy,  Detroit and Ferndale,  LLMSW, clinical social worker
  16. Brittany Whitaker,  Eastpointe,  LMSW
  17. Moss Herberholz,  Ferndale, LLMSW Therapist, The Radical Well-Being Center
  18. Florence Monnier,  Ferndale,  OTR, MS
  19. Elena Brand, PhD,  Farmington Hills,   Clinical Psychologist
  20. Maureen Anthony,  Grosse Pointe Woods, Registered Nurse
  21. Barbara Burkhardt,  Leland, Chaplain, NACC, Retired
  22. Nancy Ruhl, Livonia, Registered Nurse
  23. Kathleen Lapinski, Muskegon, retired Public Health Nurse (40 years)
  24. Kristina Schumacher, Northville, MI,  Psychotherapist, Radical Well-Being Center
  25. Mary Beck,  Northville Township,  Retired Psychotherapist - MA, LLP, LMSW
  26. Yoland Davis, RN, Oak Park, Retired Public Health Nurse
  27. John Dubosh,  Plymouth,  Retired Social Worker and Psychologist
  28. Diane Weckerle, Royal Oak, Retired Public Health Nurse, Detroit and Wayne County
  29. Elisabeth Burrell, RN, Southfield, Retired, Providence Hospital
  30. Janet Moody, RN, Southfield, Retired, Infection Prevention
  31. Kathleen Smith, Southfield, Registered Dietitian
  32. Secret Mitchell,  Sterling Heights, Mi, Macomb County,  LLMSW, Clinical Social Worker, Radical Well-being Center
  33. Carolyn Allen, Taylor, Registered Nurse
  34. Emily Gordon, West Bloomfield, JFS Detroit
  35. Wendy Wilder, West Bloomfield, Registered Nurse
  36. Philip Gilly, MD, Westland, Physician
  37. Rev. Alex Plum, CEO, Ypsilanti, Corner Health Center

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