Sparrow Health System in Lansing will join University of Michigan Health in Ann Arbor under a proposed agreement that will expand services to mid-Michigan residents, provide access to the highest level of care, and improve facilities and technology.
The U-M Board of Regents approved moving ahead with the agreement at its Dec. 8 meeting, as did the Sparrow Health System board on Nov. 28. The agreement is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023, pending final regulatory approvals and completion of the closing process.
Joining U-M Health will have a far-reaching impact on Sparrow and mid-Michigan, expanding access to clinical care throughout the region and, ultimately, statewide.
“The partnership with University of Michigan Health provides Sparrow the opportunity to take a greater leadership role in improving the health of the communities we serve,” says James F. Dover, president and CEO of Sparrow Health System.
Added Sparrow Health System Board Chair John Pirich: “This enables Sparrow to achieve our long-term strategy of helping to create a statewide system of care and allows us to accelerate growth and continue our 126-year commitment to providing world-class care close to home.”
Santa J. Ono, president of U-M, points out that an affiliation agreement signed by the two organizations in 2019 for pediatric services paved the way for ongoing collaboration between the two systems.
“The mission, vision and values of the two organizations are aligned with a common goal to deliver on the promise of nationally renowned clinical excellence in an accessible setting,” he says.
University of Michigan Health has committed $800 million in investment to Sparrow Health System, which will be funded through facility projects, operations, and strategic investments over eight years.
“We will invest in numerous improvement and growth initiatives based on community need, such as renovations to our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at E.W. Sparrow Hospital in Lansing and geographic growth across the communities we serve,” says Joseph Ruth, Sparrow Health System’s executive vice president and COO.
“This will also strengthen our key service lines including cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, and neuroscience. This infusion of investment into Sparrow services will provide job growth and career development opportunities that would not otherwise be available to our caregivers.”
The partnership will also build on U-M Health’s minority investment in Sparrow’s health plan, Physicians Health Plan (PHP). PHP provides health care coverage to more than 70,000 members and 300 employers across Michigan, and includes a Medicare Advantage plan.
Sparrow has more than 115 sites of care, including E.W. Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, community hospitals in Carson City, Charlotte, Ionia, and St. Johns, Sparrow Specialty Hospital, and nearly 500 Sparrow primary care providers and specialists serving patients across the region.
With the addition of Sparrow, U-M Health will become a $7-billion organization with more than 200 care sites across the state.
For more information about Sparrow, visit www.sparrow.org.
Michigan Medicine has five hospitals, 125 clinics and home care operations that handle more than 2.3 million outpatient visits a year. It also educates the next generation of physicians, health professionals, and scientists at the U-M Medical School.
The health care system includes the top ranked U-M Medical School and University of Michigan Health, which includes the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital, University Hospital, the Frankel Cardiovascular Center, Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan Health West, and the Rogel Cancer Center.
The U-M Medical School is one of the nation’s biomedical research powerhouses, with total research funding of more than $500 million. For more information, visit www.med.umich.edu/.
