The Wayne State University Physician Group, a 300-physician, multispecialty group practice affiliated with the Wayne State University School of Medicine, has rebranded and opened a medical facility.
The organization is now called Wayne Health in an effort to highlight its academic connection with the WSU School of Medicine. It was founded in 2000 as Academic Health Center Services before changing its name to the Wayne State University Physician Group. The new logo features the WSU warrior shield.
“Our new name and logo signal a bold new vision focused on providing integrated, whole-person care that will be realized with the opening of a new multidisciplinary health center in Midtown Detroit later this month,” says Dr. Charles J. Shanley, president and CEO of Wayne Health.
The new center, called 400 Mack Detroit Health Center (400 Mack Avenue, south side of Mack between Brush and St. Antoine streets), will offer primary and preventive health services including internal medicine, family medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, and behavioral health. Another WSU partner organization, Wayne Pediatrics, is co-locating clinical services for children at the location, offering care across the lifecycle at the new 50,000-square-foot facility.
“Wayne Health specialists and advanced practice providers care for patients with the most complex medical conditions, especially those from at-risk and vulnerable populations,” says Shanley. “As WSUSOM faculty members, our physicians have a mission-based commitment to train the next generation of physicians and conduct leading edge research. This gives our patients access to the latest, most advanced medical treatments.”
The word “health” in the new name signifies the group’s vision to provide care to the whole person. The group plans to enter partnerships and launch programs that will address social determinants of health. Its goal is to improve the health of the metro Detroit community, especially its most vulnerable residents.
The group partnered with WSU Health Sciences, ACCESS, and Ford Motor Co. to deploy teams across the region to perform mobile COVID-19 testing while also being screened for psychosocial and other health care needs. To date, about 15,000 individuals have been tested at 114 community locations.
In November 2018, the then-WSU Physician Group filed for Chapter 11 protection and began a reorganization process to address years of financial and operational challenges, completing its bankruptcy emergence in less than a year. The organization turned its finances around by shrinking its footprint, investing in new IT systems, improving business processes, and stabilizing its provider base. Wayne Health pivoted from a pre-bankruptcy $4.1 million loss in fiscal year 2018 to a $5.27 million unaudited surplus as of June 30.
