From launching a joint venture with Ascension Michigan on Oct. 1 to getting the green light to move forward with a $3 billion development plan with Michigan State University and the Detroit Pistons, Detroit-based Henry Ford Health had a successful 2024, and is looking to build on that success in 2025.
The Henry Ford Health and Ascension Michigan joint venture brought around 50,000 employees across more than 550 sites in Michigan together, with 17,000 Ascension employees joining Henry Ford Health.
"We have effectively integrated a number of key processes around HR and payroll," Robin Damschroder, executive vice president, president of value-based enterprise and CFO of Henry Ford Health, said during a Becker's Healthcare podcast episode. "We've spent a lot of time focusing on how to build our culture together and welcome our new colleagues to Henry Ford Health."
Ms. Damschroder said the system is currently beginning the joint venture's first budget year with a focus on clinical planning and optimization for the first six months of 2025.
Henry Ford Health also plans to transition Ascension's legacy websites to the Epic EHR platform that Henry Ford Health uses.
"It's going to take us about 24 months to achieve all of that, but that is a very exciting platform move that I think is going to be able to facilitate care coordination amongst patients as they cross providers in our community and in our network," she said.
Ms. Damschroder touched on Henry Ford Health's $3 billion hospital expansion with Michigan State University and the Detroit Pistons. The project, which is expected to be complete in early 2029, includes the development of a more than 1 million-square-foot patient tower and medical research facility.
"I feel pretty good about the funding," she said.
To date, the system has also raised $500 million of its $750 million campaign goal.
"Our operating performance has improved as well, which is contributing a lot of the operating cash flow," she said. "Ultimately in 2026, we will go out and get some outside debt. We feel pretty confident that we have secured the funding for the new facility."
Amid this time of growth for Henry Ford Health, Ms. Damschroder cautioned other system leaders looking into partnerships and collaborations to be ready for ups and downs.
"There is no business plan that has perfect assumptions, and so the level of trust that you build with your partners is really important," she said. "When you know that you're in it together, you remember what the larger shared goal is. When those bumps in the road come along, you're ready to pivot and adjust, and you're ready to do that in a fair and equitable way."