ANN ARBOR — The University of Michigan Health Ypsilanti Health Center will be relocating and expanding its services to continue bringing world-class health care to the community it serves.

The Board of Regents on Dec. 8 approved the expansion of the U-M Health clinical presence in the Ypsilanti-area communities, allowing for the health system to repurpose an existing building by entering a lease of space for 15 years. The future site is located at 300 W. Michigan Avenue in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and once housed the Eastern Michigan University College of Business.

"We are highly committed to this planned expansion and relocation of the Ypsilanti Health Center, which will improve access to needed health care services for the area communities which we serve,” said Tony Denton, J.D., M.H.A., senior vice president and chief operating officer of U-M Health. “This new facility will provide comprehensive services in primary and specialty care, with diagnostic imaging, laboratory, social support and community service spaces. The new health center will be conveniently located close to the downtown transportation center.”

The total project cost estimate is $35,400,000 and the new facility boasts nearly 50,000 square feet of space on three different levels of a five-floor complex in downtown Ypsilanti. It will house a wide range of adult and pediatric services, including family medicine, geriatrics, urology, behavioral health, cardiology, dermatology, ophthalmology, endocrinology, and women’s health, among others. The opening date will be announced in the near future.

“This investment in our community will allow U-M Health to deliver more high-quality primary and specialty care services directly to the residents of Ypsilanti and its surrounding areas,” said David Miller, M.D., president of U-M Health. “We look forward to expanding our community-based presence, as we work to elevate health outcomes within Ypsilanti.”

Denton notes that as a major employer and provider in the area, U-M Health is an anchor institution seeking to make a real difference for patients and families.

“Through this significant expansion of community presence, the Ypsilanti Health Center will be a part of a broader U-M Health strategy to improve socioeconomic and health equity within the area,” said Denton. “Through collaboration and teamwork with community leaders, we are actively striving to reduce disparities and address social and other determinants of health in the Ypsilanti area to improve quality of life. Our goals include local hiring, supplier investment, community education, awareness and empowerment. We are striving to build stronger relationships that make it easier to access timely health care and provide more ideal patient and family experiences.”

U-M Health serves as the clinical care enterprise of Michigan Medicine, which will share the building with several other companies researching and developing new technologies aimed at improving health care outcomes and reducing costs. Through this collaboration with Mi-HQ, an entrepreneurial community with over 290,000 square feet of property in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, Michigan Medicine will help enable early-stage life science companies to grow and thrive in Ypsilanti.

About Michigan Medicine: Michigan Medicine includes the top ranked U-M Medical School and U-M Health, which includes the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital, University Hospital, the Frankel Cardiovascular Center, University of Michigan Health-West, the Rogel Cancer Center and broad ambulatory care network across Michigan. The U-M Medical School is one of the nation's biomedical research powerhouses, with total research funding of more than $500 million.

More information is available at www.med.umich.edu/.