Representatives from McLaren Northern Michigan, the 202-bed, Petoskey-based regional hospital, will take part in a recognition and commemoration of 10 years of continuous service at McLaren Northern Michigan – Cheboygan. Organized by the Cheboygan Guild, the event will recognize the dedication of those who kept the facility operational, providing the in-demand and much-needed health care to the community.
In 2012, as McLaren Northern Michigan, part of the McLaren Health Care system, finalized its acquisition of the facility, the financially struggling Cheboygan hospital closed for five weeks, forcing the community to travel for basic health care needs. With critical aid and support from the Guild, McLaren invested in the facility — and the community — reopening it in May, first with the primary care clinic, then the emergency department and operating rooms, and keeping it operational for the past decade.
The community is welcome to join the facility’s staff and commemorate the accomplishment, which will take place on Fri., Dec. 9 at 12:30 p.m. at McLaren Northern Michigan – Cheboygan (748 South Main Street in Cheboygan). McLaren Northern Michigan president and CEO Todd Burch will cut the ribbon to recognize the effort of so many, while also providing an update on the progress of the renovation, including the expanded service offering and the scheduled opening date.
Additional investments, with generous support from the Guild, have also led to a currently underway renovation and expansion project, adding new services to the facility upon the completion of the first phase, scheduled for the spring of 2023.
“Cheboygan is a wonderful community, and it’s the people who make it phenomenal — people who deserve convenient access to health care,” said Kim Pappas, president of the Cheboygan Guild. “The loss of this facility would have been devastating to the area. But here we are still, 10 years later and on the cusp of opening a major expansion. Many people saw the value of this community and its people. We’re incredibly grateful to have been able to have a part in it.”
In December 2021, renovations and new construction began on the Justin A. Borra Behavioral Health Center, which includes the 18-bed Pulte Family Foundation Adult Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit and McDonald Partial Hospitalization program, the first of the multi-phased expansion that will change the face of the entire campus.
Slated for completion and scheduled to open in the spring, the behavioral health service will address a major need in the 22 counties that McLaren Northern Michigan serves, increasing those counties’ behavioral health beds from 35 to 53.
“It’s a well-documented issue that there is a national lack of resources of behavioral health services, and this rings especially true for northern Michigan,” Burch said. “We believe patients receiving care close to home and near a support system aid in their overall recovery, and this expansion will help accomplish that and meet a growing demand. This is a position we’re proud to be in.”
Learn more about all of the services offered at McLaren Northern Michigan and McLaren Northern Michigan – Cheboygan at mclaren.org/northernmichigan.