Detroit’s $2.5B Partnership: Redefining Health, Education, and Urban Community 

• The strategic partnership between Michigan State University, Henry Ford Health, and the Detroit Pistons represents a new model for urban development, focusing on integrating health care, education, and civic engagement to build a stronger community. 

• The $2.5 billion project goes beyond modernizing health care facilities by incorporating multi-income housing, green spaces, and sustainable energy infrastructure. 

• By aligning major institutions and focusing on talent attraction and retention, the initiative aims to provide new opportunities for students and professionals, foster innovation, and serve as a blueprint for economic revitalization in Detroit and beyond. 

View the full session recording below.

In a panel discussion moderated by Fox 2 Detroit’s Roop Raj, the leaders at the helm of the $2.5 billion community development project set to redefine the future of health care, education, and community development in Detroit shared their vision and perspectives on the unprecedented collaboration.

Michigan State University’s (MSU) Kevin M. Guskiewicz spoke to the importance of this project, describing it as one of the university’s most significant initiatives.

He explained that the university’s reimagined strategic plan places high importance on attracting and developing talent in Michigan. This priority closely aligns with the project’s goals, especially in its efforts to make Michigan a place where people want to live, work, and play.

“When you bring together a great health care system like Henry Ford Health with one of America’s leading research universities like Michigan State University, that convergence in a great city like Detroit that is really coming back to do great things … it’s going to help drive the economy,” he said.

According to Henry Ford Health’s Bob Riney, the project will do more than modernize a hospital. The project will create a campus with multi-income housing, year-round park spaces, and an all-electric, carbon-free energy center, all designed to improve community well-being.

“This is about elevating the health of a community, and in order to do that, you have to take a very holistic view,” he said.

Riney also noted that the project’s focus on education and research will create hope, discovery, and innovation while drawing more professionals to the area.

“There’s a prototype of researchers. They like to live, work, and play in a close proximity, so that creates a multiplier. And then for our team members, it allows them to take their amazing clinical expertise and use the most contemporary facilities in the world,” he said. “This is going to be something special when it’s done, redefining the future.”

Piston Sport and Entertainment’s Arn Tellem shared his group’s dedication to civic engagement through their involvement in the project.

“[Tom Gores and I] wanted to be here not just to play games, but to be really part of the city,” he said. “We shared the same goals and vision of making a difference in this community and being civic-minded first. We wanted to win games, obviously, but it really was about … participating in the city’s well-being. And Henry Ford had that same vision. It was just a match. We were both aligned, and that really is the key to a partnership.”

Tellem also discussed the role the partnership will play in retaining and attracting talent to the Detroit Region, providing opportunities for young people to advance their careers.

“We have so much talent in this state and at our great universities. We’re showing them you can create; [that] we have opportunities here,” he said. “You don’t have to go to Chicago, New York, [or] L.A. You can succeed and get on your career track better here by working at Henry Ford Health, coming to work at the research center, working in the auto industry, and get valuable skills at law firms and other institutions that are in Detroit.”

The speakers expressed their excitement and optimism for the future, emphasizing the transformative potential of this partnership and the impact it will have on Detroit and the surrounding region.

“Big dreams are a lot more contagious than small dreams,” Riney said. “And so, if you start with something really big that’s relevant, that everyone can see themselves in, in some way, shape, or form, it will be contagious.”

This session was sponsored by Henry Ford Health.