McLaren Northern Michigan, which services 22 counties in the state’s northern region, is preparing a $17 million renovation and expansion that will nearly double the size of its freestanding emergency department at its multispecialty Cheboygan Campus.
Motivated to meet the growing and evolving care needs of the community, the enhanced facility will feature a near total renovation of the current 5,000-square-foot ER and add nearly 5,000 more square feet with a newly constructed addition. The project will increase the number of treatment spaces to 14 private treatment rooms, including beds designated for the safe and thorough evaluation of behavioral health patients.
Expected to break ground in 2026, the project is supported with an existing state budget appropriation as well as local donors and private funding.
“With this enhancement and our continuing development of the McLaren Northern Michigan – Cheboygan Campus, we will be in the position to elevate our services and further meet the needs of this great and deserving community,” said Gar Atchison, McLaren Northern Michigan President and CEO. “We are grateful for the tremendous amount of support this project has already garnered, and we are excited at the benefit it can bring to Cheboygan and the well-being of this community.”
Atchison and the team at McLaren have been grateful for the efforts of local officials, especially Michigan Sen. John Damoose, whose advocacy for the project helped ensure its appropriations remained in the state budget.
“This project marks a significant and meaningful leap forward for McLaren Northern Michigan – Cheboygan Campus and for the community I proudly call my home,” said Dennis Hesselink, Chair of the McLaren Northern Michigan Board of Trustees. “These enhancements to expand access to potentially lifesaving care will ensure that Cheboygan families will receive the timely care they deserve right here, close to their homes.”
Most recently, McLaren Northern Michigan expanded the Cheboygan Campus to provide much-needed behavioral health services with the opening of the Justin A. Borra Behavioral Health Center, which includes the 18-bed Pulte Family Foundation Adult Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit providing intensive care for patients afflicted with the many forms of behavioral health conditions. The hospital’s Cheboygan-based services also feature an outpatient surgery center, comprehensive imaging and lab services, and primary and specialty care clinics.
The renovated Cheboygan emergency department, with its designated behavioral health treatment spaces, will expand the facility’s continuum of care, aiding the clinical team’s ability to accept behavioral health patients and care for them before determining the next phase of their care.
Learn more about the services offered at McLaren Northern Michigan – Cheboygan Campus at mclaren.org/cheboygan.
About McLaren Northern Michigan
McLaren Northern Michigan is a 202-bed regional referral center located in Petoskey, serving residents in 22 counties across northern Lower Michigan and the eastern part of the Upper Peninsula. More than 230 physicians represent nearly all medical and surgical specialties, enabling full-service care with an emphasis on cardiology, cancer, orthopedics and neurosciences. McLaren Northern Michigan is a certified Primary Stroke Center, as designated by the Joint Commission. The hospital has a network of primary care providers and specialty care clinics throughout the region, and an outpatient surgery center in Cheboygan. Learn more at mclaren.org/northernmichigan.
About McLaren Health Care
McLaren Health Care, headquartered in Grand Blanc, Michigan, is a $7.3 billion, fully integrated health care delivery system committed to quality, evidence-based patient care and cost efficiency. The McLaren system includes 12 hospitals in Michigan, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, a 640-member employed primary and specialty care physician network, commercial and Medicaid HMOs covering more than 732,838 lives in Michigan and Indiana, home health, infusion and hospice providers, pharmacy services, a clinical laboratory network and a wholly owned medical malpractice insurance company. McLaren operates Michigan’s largest network of cancer centers and providers, anchored by the Karmanos Cancer Institute, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. McLaren has 28,000 full-, part-time and contracted employees and more than 113,000 network providers throughout Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. Learn more at mclaren.org.