McLaren’s Relocation Plans

Flint’s McLaren Health System Corp. is hoping to move its Pontiac-based hospital to a medical park in nearby Clarkston, according to a report in Crain’s Detroit Business.

To speed up the move, McLaren officials are lobbying legislators to pass a bill that would allow them to bypass the state’s certificate-of-need process. Current rules would not allow a new hospital in Clarkston, according to the report.

 “We are working with the city of Pontiac on an economic revitalization plan,” Kevin Tompkins, McLaren’s vice president of marketing, told Crain’s. “There is a ton of moving parts in this deal and a lot of key decisions have not yet been made.”

The double-A rated McLaren system operates hospitals in six Michigan markets. Critics of the move told Crain’s that McLaren officials want to move the 328-bed POH Regional Medical Center because Clarkston has a better “payer mix” than Pontiac.

McLaren joined with a  private physicians group in late 2008 to purchase 35% of the bankrupt North Oakland Medical Center, which was renamed the Doctors Hospital of Michigan. The facility is the state’s largest privately owned hospital.

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Healthcare industry
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