Henry Ford St. John Hospital

Henry Ford St. John Hospital is a nonprofit Catholic teaching hospital on the east side of Detroit, Michigan. Part of Henry Ford Health, it has 586 staffed beds and operates a Level I adult trauma center. Its pediatric services are branded as Henry Ford St. John Children's Hospital.

The Sisters of St. Joseph established St. John Hospital in 1952 to serve Detroit's east side and the neighboring Grosse Pointe communities. Its later development included an expanded cardiac-surgery program and a $163 million campus expansion completed during the 2000s. The hospital was renamed Ascension St. John Hospital in 2018 as part of Ascension's statewide rebranding. It adopted its present name in October 2024, when a joint venture combining Henry Ford Health with Ascension's southeastern Michigan and Genesys operations took effect.

History

Establishment and early years

The Sisters of St. Joseph developed St. John Hospital, purchasing the Moross Road site with the congregation's own earnings. The Greater Detroit Hospital Fund contributed toward its construction. Contemporary reporting described it as the first large Catholic general hospital serving Detroit's far east side; it was intended to serve the city's east side and the Grosse Pointes.

The St. Louis architectural firm Maguolo & Quick designed the hospital. Its cornerstone was laid on September 17, 1950. Auxiliary Bishop Alexander M. Zaleski officiated at the ceremony, and Monsignor John C. Vismara spoke.

The completed hospital cost more than $5 million and contained 266 beds and 68 bassinets for newborns, with plans for a future 120-bed addition. Its facilities included six operating rooms and piped oxygen. Cardinal Edward Mooney blessed and dedicated the hospital on March 9, 1952. Approximately 3,000 people attended, filling the lobby and corridors while the service was relayed to the auditorium over the building's public-address system. The hospital began admitting patients on May 15, 1952.

Expansion and clinical development

By 1996, the hospital was known as St. John Hospital and Medical Center. That year, its cardiac surgeons were reported to be using smaller-incision techniques for aortic valve replacement and coronary bypass surgery. The Grosse Pointe News reported at the time that St. John performed more adult open-heart operations than any other hospital in Michigan.

A $163 million campus expansion included the eight-story, Van Elslander North Pavilion, which increased the hospital's capacity by 144 beds. The pavilion opened in stages beginning in 2007, and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments recorded the project as completed in 2008.

In March 2018, the American College of Surgeons verified St. John as an adult Level I trauma center. The hospital announced plans for a dedicated pediatric emergency department in 2023. The department opened on January 22, 2024.

Health-system changes

Ascension introduced a unified naming system for its southeastern Michigan hospitals in June 2018, and the facility was renamed Ascension St. John Hospital. In October 2023, Henry Ford Health and Ascension announced an agreement to combine Henry Ford's operations with Ascension's southeastern Michigan and Genesys facilities. The proposed system was expected to have about $10.5 billion in annual revenue and more than 550 care sites. The transaction took effect on October 1, 2024. Henry Ford received an 80% ownership and governance interest in the joint venture, while Ascension retained 20%. Ascension St. John Hospital was renamed Henry Ford St. John Hospital. The former Ascension facilities retained their Catholic identity and continued to operate under the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.

Facilities and services

Pediatric inpatient, emergency, intensive-care and neonatal services on the Moross Road campus are branded as Henry Ford St. John Children's Hospital.

Medical education

St. John established a school of radiologic technology in 1952 and continues to operate the certificate program.

The hospital is a branch campus of Central Michigan University College of Medicine. St. George's University School of Medicine also lists the Moross Road hospital, under its former Ascension name, as an affiliated clinical center. In 2021, the hospital's pediatric service entered a teaching and clinical partnership with Wayne Pediatrics and the Wayne State University School of Medicine.