U of C, Michigan hospitals form partnership to improve care

U of C, Michigan hospitals form partnership to improve care
The Chicago Maroon
Pamela Jane Miller (Appea)

The University of Chicago Hospitals (UCH) recently formed an alliance with four Michigan hospitals in the Lakeland area.

The UCH and the Michigan hospital systems have a history of conferring and exchanging ideas. UCH sources said that not only does this merger facilitate this process, but it also allows a broader range of patients to receive a higher quality of hospital care.

Ralph Muller, president of UCH, said in a statement, released by the Office of Public Affairs, “The Lakeland affiliation will convert a friendship [between the two Chicago and Michigan hospitals] into a partnership.”

He added that the community-based Michigan hospitals and the University-based Chicago hospitals will most probably complement the other.

The four hospitals in Michigan are the Berrien General Hospital, the Mercy Medical Center, Mercy Memorial Nursing Care Center and the Pawating Hospital.

This new affiliation allows patients the specialized care of The U of C’s hospitals.

The U of C Hospitals are known for specializing in treatment of many diseases and as well as organ transplants.

Susan Philips, UCH vice president of government and public affairs said that the U of C’s hospitals are particularly strong in liver transplants, as well as radiation treatment and bone marrow transplants for the treatment of cancer.

She went on to say that the U of C does work in the testing of clinical drugs, “where more conventional methods have failed, drug trials are used,” in order to combat an illness.

Originally published November 29, 1994