CMU College of Medicine unveils preliminary designs for Saginaw campus

Central Michigan University’s College of Medicine this morning unveiled preliminary designs for two new buildings in Saginaw.  CMU students will complete their clinical education there during their third and fourth years of study.

 

The facilities will be located at St. Mary’s of Michigan-Saginaw and Covenant HealthCare hospitals. The buildings, and existing space that’s slated to be renovated, will provide 120,000 to 130,000 square feet of educational and clinical space for medical students and resident physicians.

 

“The unveiling of these building designs solidifies our position as an important health care provider and medical educator in the Saginaw region,” said Ernie Yoder, founding dean of CMU’s College of Medicine. “These facilities are essential to the training of doctors to serve in central and northern Michigan.”

 

Preliminary designs were presented this morning at the Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce Percolator Breakfast.  Cost estimates for the projects will be determined after designs are finalized later this month. Funding will be provided by Saginaw-area health care partners, CMU Medical Education Partners, the university and through fundraising.  Exact amounts from each entity will be set after designs are complete and costs are finalized.

 

“These designs are a result of nearly 10 months of reviewing programmatic needs, which helped determine space requirements,” Yoder said. “Guidelines outlined by our accrediting agencies also played a critical role in space and program planning.” Those agencies are the Liaison Committee for Medical Education and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

 

Medical students will spend their first two years at CMU’s Mount Pleasant campus. Years three and four will be based in Saginaw for clinical experience. Sixty students will be accepted for the first class, which will begin its studies next summer.

 

Activities in each facility will be distinct and unique.  The St. Mary’s site will be used primarily for internal medicine.  The Covenant site will be used primarily for emergency medicine, obstetrics-gynecology, general surgery, psychiatry and pediatrics.  

 

“We’re very proud that the new CMU healthcare facility design has the future in mind to not only fit today's medicine, but also tomorrow’s innovations,” said John R. Graham, president and CEO of St. Mary’s of Michigan. “This is truly an investment in our patients’ health today, the education of our future doctors and the transformation of health care services for all of Michigan.”

 

“We at Covenant are excited to be a partner in the CMU College of Medicine and a major teaching site for the school,” said Covenant HealthCare CEO Spence Maidlow.  “It will be a great benefit to Covenant, helping our recruitment of young doctors who want to teach and maintaining an intellectually stimulating environment for all the doctors already on staff.”

 

Applications are being accepted for the College of Medicine’s inaugural class via the American Medical College Application Service.  To date, the college has received more than 2,000 student applications, which are due Dec. 15.