Several Michigan health systems are mostly dropping mask mandates that they imposed three years ago early in the pandemic, citing a dramatic decline in COVID-19 patients, vaccines and readily available treatments. 

Fifteen Michigan organizations are receiving $34.3 million in federal funding to support lending in low- and moderate-income markets that are still recovering from the pandemic.

Michigan’s banking sector remains in good shape, despite the high-profile collapse last month of Silicon Valley Bank in California and New York’s Signature Bank that gave rise to concern about the state of the industry.

While Michigan hospitals had problems retaining nurses even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation grew much worse in the first two years of the public health crisis.

Priority Health and several other health plans in Michigan intend to maintain full coverage for preventative care for now.

CASCADE TWP. — West Michigan private jet service provider Northern Jet Management Inc. plans to merge into a Florida company to create a top-20 private air service provider in the U.S.

Silicon Valley Bank’s epic collapse further tightens the environment for venture capital-backed companies planning to raise additional and larger capital rounds in the near future, local investors say.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan wants to scale back a planned rate increase for small businesses that renew their employee health policies in the latter half of the year.

HOLLAND — Doctors at Holland Hospital are taking a deeper dive into value-based care through a joint venture with a Texas company.

GRAND RAPIDS — A Canadian company that provides timing and other services for endurance sporting events globally will move its headquarters to Grand Rapids as part of an investment from Carbon River Capital LLC.

GRAND RAPIDS — Trinity Health Michigan’s federal antitrust case against Orthopaedic Associates of Michigan PC represents a “money grab” that resulted from a business dispute between the two health care organizations.

GRANDVILLE — Drew Ysseldyke seized an opportunity to return to his community banking roots in joining Grand River Bank.

GRAND RAPIDS — Four surgeons suing their former employer to break non-compete agreements now work for Trinity Health, providing the foundation for building an orthopedic practice for the health system in Grand Rapids.

GRAND RAPIDS — Perrigo Co. plc is now scheduled to make a pitch in May to federal regulators who will decide whether to approve an over-the-counter daily birth control pill for the U.S. market. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital hopes to secure additional public funding to finance half the cost for a new $60 million pediatric facility in Grand Rapids. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Private equity firm Auxo Investment Partners has added to a platform of manufacturing companies with a recent deal for Ohio-based Saylor Technical Products LLC.

GRAND RAPIDS — Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services has acquired employee assistance program contracts from Cherry Health.

Executives at MillerKnoll Inc. and Steelcase Inc. expect that their sales will ease slightly in the months ahead. 

GRAND RAPIDS — A startup company backed by West Michigan investors wants to reduce costs at hospitals and outpatient surgical centers by centralizing and managing their sterile processing for surgical instruments.

GRAND RAPIDS — Swift Printing Co., a mainstay along Bridge Street on Grand Rapids’ west side for seven decades, has transitioned to a third generation of ownership. 

LANSING — Corewell Health’s Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital plans to expand pediatric care in Lansing under an existing partnership with McLaren Health Care. 

The group representing 4,300 primary care doctors in Michigan is calling for more public funding to stem a worsening shortage of family physicians, especially in rural markets.

GRAND RAPIDS — The parent company of Auto-Wares LLC, a distributor of aftermarket automotive parts to service centers and more than 200 company-owned stores in the Midwest, has secured an investment from Kinderhook Industries LLC, a New York City-based private equity firm.

Ottawa County would extend broadband internet service to unserved and underserved areas of the county through a $27 million public-private partnership with a southeast Michigan firm.

An emerging new generation of cell and gene therapies has insurers concerned about the effect on the cost of health coverage.

GRAND RAPIDS — A new partnership between Corewell Health and Pine Rest Christian Mental Services aims to tighten ties between the two organizations to improve access to care in West Michigan.

MUSKEGON — A small credit union on the lakeshore has moved into commercial lending for small businesses.

Banks in Michigan entered 2023 in good shape financially and positioned well even if the economy enters into a recession as predicted later this year.

Lenders head toward spring expecting further hikes in interest rates and with increased prospects for a mild economic recession beginning later this year.

Health care providers who have long advocated on behalf of patients and for their profession have become increasingly vocal on another front: gun violence.