Henry Ford Hospital reaches major milestone in $2.2B expansion

DETROIT-- The steel structure for Henry Ford Hospital’s new patient tower now soars 20 stories above West Grand Boulevard. Hundreds of Henry Ford Health team members, partners, and supporters gathered for a topping-out celebration Thursday and watched as a 32-foot, 1,400-pound steel beam was placed at the top of the building where patients will one day receive life-changing care.

MEDIA KIT

The tower is the most visible component of the $2.2 billion project known as Destination: Grand that is transforming the 111-year-old hospital campus in the city’s New Center neighborhood

“This steel beam symbolizes the strength of our commitment to the city we’ve called home for more than a century,” said Henry Ford Health President and CEO Bob Riney. “This milestone moment brings us one step closer to opening the hospital of the future, where people from Detroit and around the world will have access to the very best in medical breakthroughs, technology, treatment, and healing environments, regardless of where they live or their socio-economic status.”

Since breaking ground in September 2024, construction crews have installed 6,800 tons of steel and logged more than 600,000 cumulative work hours. Eventually, they will cover the building’s façade with more than three football fields’ worth of glass. 

When it’s complete, the new part of the hospital will offer 432 private patient rooms, each with the highest levels of interactive smart technology; the 449 patient rooms that will remain at the existing hospital will be converted into private spaces. Five floors of the new patient tower will be dedicated to specialized intensive care units. Twenty-eight new operating suites capable of handling complex surgical cases—from transplants to brain surgery—will be housed in the low-rise section of the building. From robots delivering medical supplies to AI integration to support the most innovative care, every detail of the new hospital is being selected with medical excellence in mind. 

“As a surgeon, I can tell you that practicing medicine and receiving treatment at the new Henry Ford Hospital will be unlike any other healthcare experience, with capabilities you haven’t even dreamed of yet,” said Dr. Steven Kalkanis, Executive Vice President, CEO, Henry Ford Hospital and CEO, Henry Ford Medical Group.

At 75,000 square feet, the hospital’s new emergency department will be twice the size of the hospital’s existing emergency department, with 100 private treatment spaces, fast‑track care for lower‑acuity patients, and a dedicated area for patients experiencing behavioral health emergencies. 

Nearly every floor of the 1.2-million-square-foot hospital will include staff support areas such as lounges and wellness and meditative spaces.

“Just as patient care is at the center of everything we do, we’ve also prioritized our team members’ needs throughout the design process,” said Henry Ford Hospital President Ronnie Hall.  “Our goal is to create a modern, healing environment for patients while supporting the teams who care for them.”

Chicago-based Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, ranked the nation’s No.1 rehabilitation hospital by U.S. News & World Report, will occupy the three top floors in the new patient tower with a 72-bed, state-of-the-art physical medicine and rehabilitation facility. The inclusion of Shirley Ryan AbilityLab was made possible through a nearly $130 million investment by the Gilbert Family Foundation.

“For more than 70 years, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab has defined the standard in rehabilitation, advancing science driven care that helps people strengthen how they function, move and communicate,” said Dr. Pablo Celnik, CEO, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. “Through Destination: Grand, patients in Detroit will no longer need to leave their community to access world class rehabilitation care and recoveries. We are deeply grateful to the entire Henry Ford Health team and the Gilbert Family Foundation for making this shared vision a reality.”

Destination: Grand also includes a new 1,500 space parking garage; a Shared Services Building, which will house the hospital’s kitchen, pharmacy, laboratory and more; and the Central Energy Hub, which will produce clean energy for the hospital, making it one of the largest all-electric hospitals in the country.

Crews from BTD, a joint venture created by Barton Malow, Turner Construction and Dixon Construction, are on track to complete the hospital in 2029. 

Destination: Grand is funded through the health system’s capital investment and philanthropy. To date, the system has raised $241 million to support the campus expansion project through the Rising Above, Reaching Beyond fundraising campaign; the overall campaign has raised $653 million so far.

The hospital campus is the largest component of The Future of Health: Detroit, a community-driven partnership between Henry Ford Health, Tom Gores and the Detroit Pistons, and Michigan State University, that is transforming the New Center neighborhood into a vibrant, walkable community on both sides of the Lodge Freeway. 

"Henry Ford Hospital has been investing in this neighborhood and the health of Detroiters for more than a century,” said Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield. “The placing of this highest beam for their beautiful new hospital tower represents Henry Ford's commitment to Detroit for the next century, ensuring Detroiters have access to the highest quality healthcare. Detroiters deserve the very best and they will get it here."

The Future of Health: Detroit also includes mixed-use residential developments with market-rate and affordable housing funded by Gores and the Pistons, as well as the creation of a state-of-the-art medical research center for the Henry Ford Health + Michigan State University Health Sciences partnership. The new building, which is under construction across the Lodge from the new hospital, is on track to open in 2027. 

###

MEDIA INQUIRIES: mediarelations@hfhs.org