DETROIT – If you’ve driven down West Grand Boulevard anytime in the last year, you’ve seen the growing tower of steel beams across the street from the original Henry Ford Hospital.
The beams are the bones of what will be the new Henry Ford Hospital: A 20-story building with private rooms, more than 400 beds, and 28 new operating rooms.
“The hospital itself will open toward the end of 2029,” Jerry Darby, Henry Ford Health’s vice president of planning, development, and design, said during a tour of the site on Tuesday. “While you’re seeing a lot of progress, you know, 1.2 million square feet takes a long time to develop.”
The new hospital is part of the sprawling $2.2 billion expansion that broke ground nearly a year ago on Sept. 12, 2024, and has quickly taken shape.
The self-contained site begins on the Boulevard, extends past Milwaukee and Baltimore avenues, and spans across the Lodge Freeway.
“We just want to be able to provide the city of Detroit and all of our staff with the best and brand new facilities,” Darby said.
The expansion has seen progress, including new parking garages, a 46,000-sq-ft “Central Energy Hub,” and the new Henry Ford Health Sciences Research Center, which is part of their partnership with Michigan State University.
The Energy Hub, set to open by March 2027, is integral to the entire complex, as it will provide clean energy to heat and cool the new facilities.
As for the original Henry Ford Hospital, which has stood on West Grand Blvd. for more than 100 years, Darby says it will continue to operate as a space for patients as well as office space.
“That building is staying, and we’ll continue to use it,” Darby said. “It’s really a decompression of our services out of that building.”
Darby says the expansion is part of the hospital’s commitment to the city, when they could’ve moved a project like this to the suburbs.
“We’re committed to Detroit,” Darby said. “Henry Ford has always been here, and we spent a lot of years expanding and building an ambulatory network in the city and around the city.
“This is our home, and we are doubling down,” Darby added. “We believe it’s the right place to build our academic medical center as the hub to our entire system.”