Michigan Nonprofits Call for Investigation of Vanguard's Detroit Hospital Purchase

A group of several nonprofit organizations in Michigan is urging the state's attorney general to investigate the legality of Vanguard Health System's proposed purchase of Detroit Medical Center's eight hospitals, according to a report in the Nashville Business Journal.

The coalition wrote a letter to Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, arguing the proposed sale of the DMC hospitals to for-profit Vanguard violates a section of state law prohibiting nonprofit corporations from letting their assets be used or distributed for non-charitable purposes, according to the report.

Vanguard signed a letter of intent in March to purchase DMC and invest $850 million in the system. The letter expires June 1, according to the Business Journal.

The group, which calls itself the "Coalition to Protect Detroit Health Care," is made up of the Michigan Universal Health Care Access Network, Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength and Michigan Legal Services.

Read the Nashville Business Journal report on Vanguard Health Systems and Detroit Medical Center.