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 The Pride of Macomb County For
More Than 60 Years
McLaren Macomb (McLaren Macomb) is a 288-bed acute care
hospital located in Mount Clemens, Michigan. With more than 2,000 employees,
McLaren Macomb is one of Macomb County's top employers. The hospital also has more than
420 affiliated physicians.
McLaren Macomb provides a full range of services
including cancer and cardiovascular care. The hospital operates one of the
busiest emergency departments in area. McLaren Macomb also has top-notch surgical
services using state-of-the-art technology.
McLaren Macomb has a rich history and holds a strong
place in the community it serves.
Prior to 1944, the 108,000 residents of
Macomb County had few choices when it
came to choosing a hospital. The
patients of osteopathic physicians had even less. For their medical care, most
had to travel to downtown Detroit, an inconvenience considering that most of the
area roads were unpaved.
Dr. Campbell A. Ward was one of only a few
osteopaths in the area. Dr. Ward and several others saw the need to provide
obstetric and gynecologic care locally and offered services from a house on
Gratiot Avenue in Mount Clemens. In time, the group realized that if they were
to meet the medical needs of a growing population, a new area hospital had to be
formed.
In 1944, 12 physicians and community leaders took steps to
organize and establish a hospital suitable for labor and delivery and surgery.
The physicians and their families used their own money and appealed to the
community to raise the necessary funds to renovate a building on Macomb Street
in downtown Mount Clemens.
 On
February 10, 1945, Mount Clemens General Hospital (MCGH) officially opened with
40 beds and a staff of 17 physicians.
In its first year of operation,
the facility treated nearly 1,300 patients, delivered 360 babies and performed
616 surgeries.
The success of the small hospital soon led to a need for
a larger facility. In 1955, with federal grant assistance and donor
contributions, the hospital broke ground at its current site on Harrington
Boulevard, on the southwest corner of Mount Clemens bordering Clinton
Township.
The following year, the new 104-bed Mount Clemens General
Hospital was opened and began serving the community.
The need for more
beds saw the construction of a 3-story addition in 1963, bringing the bed total
to 200.
Just three years later, the hospital activated a long-range,
three-phase construction plan and in 1968, plans were approved for another
three-story addition at a cost of $3.3 million.
In 1972, the hospital
dedicated the additional floors, adding medical/surgical floors, pediatrics, and
a library. Later that year, the hospital dedicated its intensive care and
coronary care units.
Plans soon began for more growth and in 1975 the
hospital approved the 5-story Campbell A. Ward Tower.
The following
year, the Michigan Department of Public Health approved additional beds,
bringing the total bed count to the current day total of 288.
In 1982,
Phase 2 of the hospital's long-term construction plan was completed with the
dedication of a 2-story addition to the hospital's east campus. The new facility
housed new operating rooms as well as lab and radiology areas.
In 1989,
the Mat Gaberty Heart Institute was dedicated expanding the heart program, which
would soon become the flagship service for the hospital.
The 1990s
marked a decade of consistent growth for Mount Clemens General. In 1991, the
hospital began offering laparoscopic procedures, a service that would continue
to expand and evolve technologically right up to the addition in 2005 of the da
Vinci robotic surgical system.
In 1994, the hospital began construction
of a medical building south of the hospital.
That same year, ground was
broken for a new 144,000 square foot addition to the hospital that would
eventually house the intensive care unit and family birthing center.
In
1997, the hospital consolidated its cardiovascular care services into one area
of the hospital, creating the Mat Gaberty Heart Center.
At this time,
the MCG Foundation began to raise funds for a new 125-seat medical education
auditorium. The auditorium and adjoining classrooms provided much-needed space
to train interns and residents.
In 1998, a major renovation and
expansion was completed on the hospital's lab. At the same time, plans were
underway to build a medical office building. With its beautiful atrium and
pleasing amenities, the $9.6 million, 48,000 square foot office building
transformed the main entrance to the hospital.
In 2000, the Emergency
Department underwent a major renovation and expansion. Dedicated in 2003, the
Emergency Department now offers 24 private exam rooms, seven open treatment
areas, and three trauma rooms.
As the hospital continued to
grow, parking became a major challenge. In November 2002, construction of a
new 6-level parking deck began. The esthetically pleasing structure has a
capacity for 900 vehicles.
In March of 2004, the hospital held
dedication ceremonies for the Ted B. Wahby Cancer Center, featuring radiation
oncology services. In 2008, McLaren Macomb opened the new state-of-the-art freestanding
Ted B. Wahby Cancer Center on the hospital’s campus.
One of the hospital's largest-scale construction projects began in late 2003.
Two years later, the new, 151,000-sq. ft. Surgery Center was completed. The
Surgery Center features world-class amenities along with state-of-the-art
technology. The center has eight operating rooms with expansion capacity to
ten.
In 2006, MCGH became a wholly-owned subsidiary of McLaren
Health Care. It was decided at this time to change the name of the hospital to
better reflect its place in the community it serves. McLaren Macomb
Medical Center (McLaren Macomb) now joins McLaren's seven other hospitals serving
central, southeast Michigan.
McLaren Macomb has
enjoyed consistent growth for more than 60 years. With numerous of physician
offices and medical buildings, McLaren Macomb continues to make its presence known
throughout Macomb County. Today, McLaren Macomb stands out in the county as an important
community resource.
More than 420 physicians are on staff at the hospital, including more than
100 family medicine and internal medicine specialists who provide primary care.
Many work to encourage and train new students in the area. The hospital's
teaching program, with its high standard of excellence, now attracts hundreds of
top students from across the nation.
The hospital, with its rich history
and strong place in the community, is poised to grow for many years to come.
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