Michigan State University and Henry Ford Health System Announce Plans for Primary Affiliation

<p>Henry Ford Health System and Michigan State University have announced the two organizations have signed a letter of intent (LOI) to significantly expand their long-term partnership, a unique primary affiliation among the first of its kind for the region between a fully integrated academic health system and major state university. Committed to redesigning care around our patients and communities through education, research and clinical care, the enhanced collaboration will focus on radically improving access, affordability and outcomes, especially for our most vulnerable populations.<br> <br> “We’ve worked on a letter of intent between Henry Ford Health System and Michigan State University to develop a deep partnership in some areas we think are incredibly important,” says MSU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D. “Those areas include education. Our health colleges are very interested in working with Henry Ford to develop an actual site where we could train students and physicians.<br> <br> “It’s very important from a research point of view. We believe we have a number of areas where we could collaborate on research, particularly in the biomedical area. And Henry Ford would also love access to some our social scientists and some of our public health experts who they think could be helpful to them as well.<br> <br> “And in clinical care, one of the challenges we’ve had at Michigan State University is to find a partner interested in a deeper partnership.<br> <br> “This is something we’re excited about and can develop with Henry Ford. We think they’re a great partner. Their outreach, particularly in southeast Michigan, is extraordinary. They were one of the leading groups taking care of patients with Covid-19. And I think this ties in very well with the work we’re doing in Flint. With our greater engagement with public health throughout the state, I think this partnership gives us the opportunity to increase our clinical outreach to areas that could use our help, not just in medicine, but in public health