Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, of Henry Ford Health in Michigan, has undergone its largest expansion in almost five decades in the form of the $265 million Janet & Jim Riehl North Tower, a five-story facility with 160 private patient rooms that can be converted to intensive care rooms when needed.

The 225,000-square-foot facility, which was the subject of a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 9, is also the largest healthcare investment in Macomb County history, increasing intensive care beds from 48 to 60 and featuring rooms on each floor specially designed for patients with disabilities, of size, and with unique needs that require a more secure setting. It will primarily house medical ICU, surgical ICU, cardiovascular ICU, neuro/stroke cardiac, and telemetry medical surgery.

The opening includes more than 30 full-time equivalent positions in nursing, pharmacy, plant operations, supply chain, security, patient transport, environmental services, food and nutrition, and information services, as well as a redesigned north entrance, an expanded powerhouse and loading dock, roadway improvements, and a new staff parking lot.

More than 10 years in planning, the site work began in late 2020, and construction, managed by Barton Malow Dixon, began in summer 2021, with AECOM as the architectural engineer.

Inside each room are large windows for natural light, blackout shades that can be controlled from the bedside, enlarged toilet and shower rooms with sliding doors, a guest couch that converts to a sleeping surface, an in-room safe, large TVs, and in-room patient sitter cameras.

Each room also has illuminated backlit artwork on the headwall, while the tower has more than 200 pieces of art displayed throughout it, as part of its objective to foster an art healing and work environment.

Henry Ford Macomb Hospital offers advanced-level emergency and trauma care, as well as specialty services, including heart and vascular, cancer, a birthing center, an inpatient rehabilitation unit, and advanced neuroscience, spine and orthopedic procedures, to more than 25,000 patients each year; and experiences more than 57,000 emergency visits per year, as of 2022.

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