Saint Mary's Health Care, Michigan State University to Sign Agreement for Medical School

“We are so pleased to announce that Saint Mary’s Health Care and Michigan State University have finalized their agreement regarding Saint Mary’s role in the Michigan State University medical school move to Grand Rapids,” stated Philip H. McCorkle, Jr., president and CEO of Saint Mary’s. “This is a natural extension of our more than 40 years of partnership with Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in the provision of medical education.”

Saint Mary’s, represented by McCorkle and David Baumgartner, MD, Vice President, Medical Affairs, will ink the agreement with Lou Anna Simon, president of Michigan State University, and Marsha Rappley, MD, Dean, College of Human Medicine at 10:30 AM on November 1 on the fifth floor of The Lacks Cancer Center at Saint Mary’s.

In the interest of effectively using community and financial resources, the agreement will include joint recruitment of specialists and researchers as well as broad involvement of existing Saint Mary’s Health Care medical staff members as faculty. The agreement includes space for students on the Saint Mary’s campus. “Our medical staff will be involved in teaching the Michigan State University medical students in Grand Rapids beginning with the move of the first group of students in 2008,” commented David Baumgartner. “The strength of both Saint Mary’s primary care physicians and its outstanding specialists provides a strong base to support Michigan State plans for medical school expansion.”

" With its phenomenal work in cancer care, the neurosciences and orthopedics, Saint Mary's is a health care leader in West Michigan and beyond," said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. "We are proud to welcome them as an integral part of the MSU West Michigan Medical School."

Details of the agreement will be revealed at the news conference.

Saint Mary’s Health Care is an integrated network of health care excellence offering a unique combination of capabilities to deliver a health care experience that is more complete and personally satisfying. Our commitment to offer the latest technology and most highly skilled physicians in a holistic, patient-centered environment has made us a progressive leader in cancer care, neuroscience, orthopedics, diabetes and endocrine care, kidney transplants, and integrative medicine.

The network encompasses more than 2,500 employees, a 324-bed, JCAHO-accredited teaching hospital, The Lacks Cancer Center, The Wege Institute for Health and Learning, the Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology, the Hauenstein Neuroscience Program, three fitness centers, five community outreach centers and affiliations with home health care, rehabilitation services, and the area's premier primary care network, Advantage Health Physicians. Saint Mary’s recently was awarded the Governor’s Award of Excellence and named one of West Michigan’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to work for. Saint Mary’s is a member of Trinity Health, the country’s fourth-largest Catholic health care system and recipient of the 2004 National Quality Health Care Award.