MidMichigan Health to Add New Emergency Dept. in Bay City

Midland-based MidMichigan Health will soon break ground for a new Emergency Department to be built on the site of MidMichigan Health Park – Bay at 3051 Kiesel Road in Bay City. The new 24/7 Emergency Department is expected to open in approximately one year, with all the capabilities of a hospital-based Emergency Department. The public is invited to watch the groundbreaking ceremony for the project at noon on Tuesday, Dec. 15, via the MidMichigan Health Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/midmichigan. The event may also be viewed after the ceremony on MidMichigan’s website:  www.midmichigan.org/bay.

“Emergency department use rates in Bay County are on the rise and are higher than state and national averages, creating a need for additional access points,” said Greg Rogers, president, MidMichigan Medical Center – Midland, and executive vice president and chief operating officer, MidMichigan Health. “In addition, the majority of Bay County residents live west of the Saginaw River and many have expressed a need for timely access to emergency care on this side of the river.”

Rogers continued, “Emergency visits related to mental health concerns and substance use have increased even more significantly, demonstrating a need for more local access to behavioral health services. One of our goals for this project is to integrate behavioral health and telemedicine into emergency and primary care, helping to address that need.”

According to Tammy Terrell, M.S.N., R.N., vice president of nursing, MidMichigan Medical Center – Midland, and chief nursing officer, MidMichigan Health, the new Emergency Department was designed with input from nurses, providers and other experts with more than 200 years of combined experience in delivering emergency care.

“We’re building in many unique features that will enable us to provide you faster, safer, more patient-friendly care,” Terrell said. “These range from comfort features like curbside heated wheelchairs, a heated ambulance entrance and all-private rooms with natural light to safety features such as separate waiting spaces and specialized rooms with external airflow for safer care of patients with COVID-19 or other infectious diseases.”

The project will also bring 24/7 CT scanning, X-ray and laboratory services to the site for faster results.

“Having the Emergency Department next to the family medicine practice will facilitate coordination and prompt outpatient follow-up with a primary care provider,” said David Jordahl, M.D., family medicine physician and medical director for MidMichigan Health Park – Bay. “Emergency patients who do not already have a primary care provider will have the opportunity to establish care with one of the providers at the Health Park. We can even seamlessly make their follow up appointment before they are discharged from the Emergency Department.”

Services currently available at the Health Park include physicians specialized in family medicine, orthopedics and sports medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, cardiology, otolaryngology and endocrine surgery plus rehabilitation services, laboratory, X-ray and visiting specialists from Michigan Medicine, the health care division of the University of Michigan.

“We’re proud to be bringing these innovations to the Bay community,” said Diane Postler-Slattery, Ph.D., FACHE, president and CEO, MidMichigan Health. “With convenient options like virtual care, online scheduling, e-checkin, on-site specialists and now 24/7 emergency care, we can serve you when and where you need us.”

To learn more about MidMichigan Health Park – Bay and the new Emergency Department project,  visit : www.midmichigan.org/bay