Auto downsizing and a medical boom -- the face of Mid-Michigan employment may be changing for good.
As the state's manufacturing sector diminishes and jobs go south, one industry is making a huge effort to bring and establish what the healthcare field is calling a medical Mecca.
Hospitals and universities are at the forefront of this move.
The medical Mecca hasn't happened overnight. In fact, health care officials say it's been a subtle shift in that direction, but one they've always seen coming.
"One day people are going to wake up and say, 'Wow, this is Saginaw,'" said Saginaw St. Mary's Hospital spokesman Ken Santa.
Not too long ago it used to be if someone needed medical attention, they'd have to go to the big city to get it, but not any more. Some of the best specialty medical treatments are in Mid-Michigan's back yard.
"As the auto industry starts to downsize, those jobs are starting to disappear, so we need something to take the place of those jobs."
That something is what the health care industry is calling a medical Mecca.
"This is a place where people from far and wide would come to be treated," Santa said.
Local Health Alliance says the Tri-Cities area is a hub for health care where the four major facilities provide more than 1,700 beds.
It also says the area has a larger percentage of jobs in health care than anywhere in the nation. It's no wonder Saginaw Valley State University added nearly 50 students in the Nursing and Health Science College.
"The last few years we have seen a surge," said SVSU Dean of Nursing and Health Services Dr. Jan Blecke. "We have changed our whole culture of how we do business."
The Michigan Health and Hospital Association says in 2005 the economic impact of the health care industry in our region is more than $2.5 billion.
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