Robert Riney becomes new Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation chair
Riney replaces former chairman, Dan Loepp
The Parade Company Board of Directors has a new chairman.
Robert Riney, president of healthcare operations and chief operating officer for Henry Ford Health System has been named to the board for the Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation.
“Bob is a remarkable leader and plays a significant role in our community,” said Tony Michaels, president and CEO of the Parade Company. “We are proud to have him as our new chairman given his extraordinary commitment to our Foundation and true understanding of America’s Thanksgiving Parade presented by Gardner-White, the Ford Fireworks and what these traditions mean to our city, region and state.”
Michaels also extended his deepest appreciation to Dan Loepp, our immediate past chair and president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
Riney and Henry Ford Health System have been longtime supporters of The Parade Company. Unveiled in 2018, Henry Ford Health System’s float, “Path to Wellness,” remains one of the remarkable floats in America’s Thanksgiving Parade® presented by Gardner-White. Henry Ford Health System’s first float debuted in 2015 to celebrate their 100-year anniversary.
“America’s Thanksgiving Parade, the Ford Fireworks and all of the other events sponsored by the Foundation, with the participation and support thousands of volunteers and community groups bring joy to millions of people each year,” said Riney. “It is an honor to be named Chairman of the Michigan Thanksgiving Day Parade Foundation and to contribute to the legacy of family entertainment and community engagement that are the hallmark of the Foundation’s events.”
Riney was appointed COO of Henry Ford Health
System in 2003 and president of Healthcare operations/COO in 2017. In this role, Riney oversees all hospital and service operations for the six-hospital health system consisting of more than 60 clinical locations, 30,000 employees and annual revenues of $6 billion. He is also responsible for Corporate Information Technology, Corporate Facilities & Security, International Strategies, and the System Chief Nursing Office.
Riney is a passionate contributor to the overall quality of the community as well as his profession, and is often sought out for input on major community strategic issues. His current board and community roles include: board member, Nemours Foundation – one of the country’s largest foundations; board member, past chair, Michigan Health and Hospital Association (MHA); board member, Detroit Zoological Society; board member, M1 Rail Transit Authority; chairman, board of directors, The Parade Company; and, board member, Hudson-Webber Foundation.
After meeting Prosecuting Attorney Lucido several times and finding him a bombastic narcissist, he is ambulance chasing on Macomb County’s dime just to stay relevant in the news.
By trying to recruit nursing home patient families to come forward about deaths of their loved ones due to COVID, he is
embarrassing Macomb County just to be able to sue Governor Whitmer, which is probably why no other county prosecutor will sign on with him.
News flash Pete: nursing homes are health care facilities that receive County and Federal funding and are regulated as such, e.g. I just received a winter tax bill increase for Macomb’s Martha T Berry medical facility.
With hospitals at full capacity and lack of adequate PPE because your party’s leader did nothing for 3 months, did you expect Governor Whitmer to put these over flow patients on the street, to deny them care, to tell the families that there are beds available at nursing homes but you can’t have one?
It is unfortunate other nursing home patients could have become ill because of the influx of COVID patients, but the same can be said for existing patients in hospitals that were full. These are extraordinary times that require extraordinary decisions which Governor Whitmer made.
So quit wasting tax dollars pursuing frivolous law suits to settle a political vendetta for which you might not even have standing to pursue.
Dennis Marentette
St. Clair Shores
The Michigan High School Athletic Association announced some slight changes to its plans for winter sports championships on Wednesday.
In order to allow for more fans to attend championship events in late March and early April, the MHSAA will be using multiple venues for certain sports.
An increase in spectator limits was put into effect on March 5 by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, giving the MHSAA an opportunity to accommodate more fans.
The individual wrestling finals previously were announced to be competed in full at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo. However, a change moving two divisions to Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids will allow for more fans, primarily immediate family, to attend.
Previously, wrestlers were to be limited to one spectator per participant. With multiple sites, wrestlers will be allowed multiple spectators each.
Similarly, Van Andel and the Breslin Center in East Lansing will host additional events to allow more fans to attend championship rounds in competitive cheer and girls and boys basketball. Both facilities have capacities of more than 10,000 spectators and may host up to 750 per MDHHS guidelines.
The competitive cheer finals will move to Breslin Center to allow more fans to attend compared to other venues that were being considered.