YPSILANTI, MI – University of Michigan leaders unveiled the new $40 million Ypsilanti Health Center Thursday afternoon in front of elected officials, community members and Michigan Health leaders.
The new downtown facility at 300 W. Michigan Ave. will open Monday, June 2 in the former Eastern Michigan University College of Business. University of Michigan regents agreed in 2022 to lease the space for 15 years from technology incubator MI-HQ and invest more than $35 million in leaseholder renovations to three of the building’s five floors.
Hospital leaders say the investment will allow UM Health to expand its services in the city, more than tripling the footprint of its former location at 200 Arnet St. Hospital officials also say the center aims to reduce health disparities in the Ypsilanti area.
1/20
University of Michigan relocates, expands Ypsilanti Health Center
“This health center is truly going to make a difference for all the residents of Ypsilanti,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, who spoke at the May 22 ribbon cutting event. “And we all know how difficult it is for too many Americans to be able to access health care when they’re sick and when they need it. It’s for a variety of reasons. But bringing the critical services closer to people and making sure that the health center is community focused will make it much easier for people to access the care they need.”
The building’s fourth and fifth floors will serve as adult and pediatric clinics, while a portion of the building’s ground floor will house a radiology clinic and an additional $6 million program designed to help adolescents with emotional and behavioral health challenges.
Expanded clinical space will allow the center to serve about 20,000 more patients each year, while the blood processing lab and new radiology space will offer patients same-day results and improved accessibility. In the past, patients receiving primary care at the Ypsilanti center would need a referral for some of those services.
Having all of these services in one place can prevent delays in care, according to Migdalia Musler, Michigan Medicine’s chief operating officer at the University of Michigan Health System.
The new clinics occupy the perimeter of the building’s upper floors and feature wall-to-wall windows and murals designed by a local interior decorator. The new space was intentionally laid out to make it easier for patients to access their primary care doctors and specialists and get lab work done in one spot.
Musler said the health center carefully considered which services to offer in the new space, often asking community members directly in a series of listening sessions. Mobility was a major consideration; the new building is located opposite the Ypsilanti Transit Center. Every bus route travels to the transit center, Musler noted. The location offers the “greatest level of convenience,” she said.
“We will not allow zip codes to define our health outcomes,” Musler said.
Services offered at the new location will include general pediatrics, family medicine, geriatrics, urology, behavioral health, cardiology, dermatology, ophthalmology, endocrinology, and women’s health, among others.
Other key additions include an expanded food pantry, which will be open to the public, and a state-of-the-art facility for on-site sanitation of linens, which previously had to be shipped to an off-site facility.
Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark thelocal Ann Arbor news page, theYpsilanti-area news page or sign up for the free “3@3 Ann Arbor” daily newsletter.
