Hospital Expansion Marks Largest Healthcare Investment in Detroit History

By Fay Harvey

Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital has been leading advancements in medicine and delivering innovative treatments for more than 100 years. Now, the facility will undergo a $2.2 billion expansion spanning 1.2 million square feet, making the project the single largest healthcare investment in the city’s history. Included in the budget is a separate joint medical research center with Henry Ford Health and Michigan State University.  

Three architectural engineering firms and three construction management firms have come together to bring Henry Ford Health’s new design vision to life. Architecture and design firms associated include HDR, Tsoi Kobus Design, and Hamilton Anderson, working in partnership with construction firms Barton Marlow, Turner Construction, and local company Barton Mallow-Turner-Dixon Construction Services (BTD).  

The project will add 400 new private beds, three floors of the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, five floors of specialized ICU rooms from cardiovascular to neurological, and a 75,000-square-foot expansion of the emergency department with an addition of 100 private, flexible treatment spaces. Technological advancements also include touchscreen televisions that also utilize voice activation for both patient and care teams. 

In addition, Henry Ford Health is building a separate shared services building and an 185,000-square-foot edifice housing the hospital’s kitchen, loading dock, sterile processing, a 1,500-space parking garage and a 46,000-square-foot central energy hub, eliminating the need for natural gas and furthering the facility’s goal of being the country’s largest fully electric-capable hospital. 

The multi-year construction project officially broke ground in late September after plans were released to the public in February 2023. The hospital expansion is part of a developmental vision for the enire New Center neighborhood where the hospital resides. This plan, The Future of Health: Detroit Vision, will add walkability, housing and vibrance to the community, further exemplifying how community and neighborhood needs are at the core of this hospital remodel. Henry Ford Hospital’s new facility is expected to open its doors to patients in 2029.