MGH aims to become the primary hospital for U.P. residents

The Marquette County Board of Commissioners heard an update on Marquette General Hospital and improvements being made to the facility.

CEO Ed Banos gave a presentation to the board on how the hospital has grown since its acquisition by Duke LifePoint two years ago.  The hospital is improving its services, including the addition of a heart network affiliation, broadening its oncology and neuroscience services, and expanding its sports medicine program.

“It has always been the vision when the acquisition came that Duke LifePoint, when they talked with the Board of Directors, was is that Marquette General is perfectly positions to be the tertiary care hospital in being able to–with the resources of Duke–provide high quality services here, committed to the levels of the Duke System, and then help us in recruiting physicians and getting our physicians trained so that we can be the hospital in the U.P. where everyone knows that (if) they need tertiary services, that high quality service is available,” Banos said.

About 3,000 residents went to hospitals outside the Upper Peninsula last year for treatment.  Banos said improving what MGH can offer–including a new facility–will help retain patients in Marquette and throughout the U.P.

“The most important part is, when you support your local U.P. hospital in Marquette or any other hospitals in the U.P., it keeps U.P. people working,” Banos said. “When we’re able to provide these services and keep it local to home it’s good for the families that want to visit, it’s good for the people that need their follow-up care, and then being able to have that with a new facility, highly trained doctors, good quality care, and then keeping our people working here in the U.P., it’s just a win-win for everybody.”

The new hospital is slated to open in 2017, but there is still no word on where the hospital will be built.  Banos said the decision will be made in about a month.