CMU medical college in Saginaw has new name, location

SAGINAW, MI — A plan for Saginaw to host a new building for Central Michigan University’s College of Medicine is continuing to take shape as college officials announced major developments in the initiative Friday, Nov. 21.

CMU officials announced the name of the planned expanded campus — Covenant HealthCare College of Medicine at Central Michigan University — along with two multimillion-dollar donations that led to the new title.

College officials also announced plans to build the site in a different location than previously announced, although the change will keep the academic college in Saginaw and within the “medical diamond” district along the city’s riverside, near downtown.

CMU officials originally identified the site for the planned building on what now is a vacant riverside lot neighboring the AT&T building, 309 S. Washington in downtown Saginaw. But university officials said the site instead will reside adjacent to a Saginaw hospital belonging to MyMichigan Health, formerly Ascension St. Mary’s of Saginaw, less than a half-mile down the street from CMU’s original planned site.

Covenant HealthCare and MyMichigan Health — two health care systems with hospitals on opposite sides of the Saginaw River — pledged $40 million apiece toward the campus development, CMU officials said.

“We are thrilled to announce this extraordinary collaboration that brings two of our state’s most respected health care systems together with our university to strengthen medical education, enhance the medical student experience, improve patient outcomes and expand healthcare access here in the Great Lakes Bay Region,” CMU President Neil MacKinnon said in a statement.

“This tremendous partnership will have a positive effect on lives and communities for generations to come.”

Other changes to the original plan were announced during a Friday afternoon press conference.

Previously, CMU officials said the development would involve a $200 million fundraiser. That figure was lowered to $100 million during the Friday announcement of the college’s naming.

CMU’s original $200 million goal was based on a previous building design and was set prior to completing a fundraising feasibility study, college officials said. Since then, CMU leaders decided to focus solely on the construction of a new medical education facility, which reduced the overall cost of the project.

It’s unclear if Friday’s announcements will impact other details of the medical college that were previously reported. In July 2024, CMU officials revealed plans to open a 100,000 square foot building in 2028. Building dimensions and an opening year were not included in Friday’s announcement, although college officials maintained crews would break ground at the site next year, as originally reported.

Plans to expand the Mount Pleasant-based public university’s medical campus in Saginaw began years ago, gaining momentum as other health care-related organizations and elected leaders invested in what many have coined “the medical diamond” project in Saginaw.

The initiative involves growing the number of health care-related organizations in the city, particularly in the riverfront districts where facilities such as Covenant HealthCare and MyMichigan Health hospitals attract patients and medical professionals alike from near and far.

The CMU College of Medicine already operates facilities in Saginaw that provide education for about 125 students in the final two years of their studies as physicians.

The planned expansion of the college in Saginaw would create a hub large enough to allow first- and second-year students to study there too. Presently, those younger students begin their education in medicine at CMU’s Mount Pleasant facilities.

The expansion would mean about 400 CMU College of Medicine students in total would study in Saginaw when the planned new building opens in four years, CMU officials said in 2024.

Some key personnel have moved on since the medical college development plans gained momentum in recent years.

Dr. George Kikano, the dean of the CMU College of Medicine since 2015, resigned from the position in March 2025. His departure came the year after then-CMU President Robert O. Davies stepped down in January 2024. Both were in their administrative roles during critical stages of the medical college’s development.

CMU officials said, across mid-Michigan, many individuals and families face persistent and profound barriers to health care. Currently, 74 of Michigan’s 83 counties carry at least a partial designation as health professional shortage areas, college officials said.

“The need for a strong, community-oriented medical education program and physician pipeline has never been greater,” MacKinnon said in a statement.

The planned new building would serve as the central hub for the CMU College of Medicine.

The facility currently housing CMU’s College of Medicine in Mount Pleasant would serve as the site for future expansions and developments in the university’s health care education programs, CMU officials have said.

The need to increase CMU College of Medicine’s Saginaw presence was driven in part by the program outgrowing the Mount Pleasant hub, CMU officials said. The facilities there were built to accommodate a yearly cohort the size of 60 students when the medicine college hosted its first classes in 2012.

The expansion in Saginaw also supports the university’s existing partnerships with health care-related organizations there, including the hospitals that help train and later employ the students, CMU officials said.

Plans for the expansion of operations in Saginaw date back more than a decade, gaining much of its momentum over the last three years.

The CMU Board of Trustees in early 2022 formed a Health Care Special Committee to examine the university’s contributions to health care across the state.

Later that year, the board OK’d the committee’s recommendations to increase the capacity of CMU’s health professions and medical education programs.

Then, in 2023, CMU leaders engaged in discussions with partners across the region to identify opportunities for growth, officials said. That effort led to talks with partners involved with the Saginaw “medical diamond” project, including staff and elected leaders with Saginaw City Hall, Saginaw County, Saginaw Future Inc. as well as Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce.

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