Saint Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS) is nearly doubling the amount– from $25 million to $41 million—that will be invested to upgrade St. Joseph Mercy Livingston hospital and develop a short stay center for overnight stays at St. Joseph Mercy Brighton.
“We are so pleased that Trinity Health has agreed to invest a significant amount into our Livingston facilities to enable us to upgrade and expand our services for area residents,” said Rob Casalou, regional president and CEO, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System. “This transformation plan to our health facilities in Livingston is the leading project within Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, and demonstrates our commitment to the region as the only full-service health care provider in Livingston County.”
Made possible through capital project funds from Trinity Health with community fundraising planned for key aspects of the project, this SJMHS investment will ensure its Livingston facilities — the only hospital and emergency rooms in the county — are well-designed to meet the needs of Livingston County, which continues to be the fastest-growing county in the state.
At St. Joseph Mercy Livingston hospital, a completely new retail space will be created that will incorporate food service and a gift shop/convenience store. This new retail model will feature a redesigned and expanded cafeteria with a wide variety of healthy food options, a convenience store and comfortable seating all in one dedicated area.
Corridors throughout the facility will be refreshed with improved way finding signage throughout the hospital. A new multi-purpose community room will be developed to serve as a venue for community events.
The hospital’s current surgery suite will be redesigned and updated to include a total of five state-of-the-art, expanded operating rooms that will accommodate the latest technology, as well as new surgery preparation and recovery bays and family lounge to offer patients a comfortable and efficient surgery experience.
At St. Joseph Mercy Brighton, an innovative short stay center will be developed to fill the need between inpatient and outpatient care. The largest known freestanding overnight care unit for outpatient care, this unit will involve the construction of a 24-bed overnight care unit that will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by nurses and physicians, as well as two additional operating rooms for procedures requiring less than a 24-hour recovery. This innovation in overnight care for outpatients creates a safe, high quality and cost-effective model of care that is being viewed by Trinity Health as a pilot innovation project for its entire organization.
As part of the two-story construction of the short stay center, the existing emergency room and operating rooms will be expanded, including the addition of a fourth operating room.
In addition, the main lobby of the Brighton health center will be completely redesigned featuring a new retail and foodservice concept. This retail model will include expanded food service for visitors and staff, showcasing deli options such as soups and sandwiches, as well as a juice bar with specialty drinks. A new convenience store will offer takeaway food items, magazines and snacks.
The food service capability at the health center will be expanded to provide patient room service for the new short stay center. Some hiring will take place to increase staffing levels for the extended hours of operation.
“We are invigorating health care in Livingston with innovative facilities and leading-edge services to provide our patients with the highest quality patient experience right in their own backyard,” said Brynt Ellis, executive director, St. Joseph Mercy Livingston and Brighton operations. “Our transformation plan will allow us to experiment with, test and deploy the newest technology in telehealth.”
Several architects will be retained for various elements of the project including HKS, Inc.; A3C and o/x Studio Inc. The construction manager for the entire project is George W. Auch Company. The 30-month construction project will begin immediately.
Saint Joseph Mercy Health System remains committed to providing high quality care to the residents of Livingston County. St. Joseph Mercy Livingston has a medical staff of more than 300 providing on-site specialty services, a 24-hour emergency room, advanced stroke care, and seamless access to the system’s tertiary services at St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor when needed.
