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Ascension Health Care is spending $50 million in its Northern Michigan Division.

Regional President Doctor Stephanie Duggan says $17.6 million will be spent updating Ascension St. Marys Emergency Department in Saginaw. An additional amount of money will provide a new medical complex at Ascension Standish Hospital. Ascension St. Joseph in Tawas City will also have facility improvements.

Duggan said a partnership joins St. Marys and Covenant Healthcare with Central Michigan Universitys College of Medicine. The program currently has 101 medical residents doing their clinical training in Saginaw. The goal is to get 150 residents studying in the city. Its an effort to keep these future doctors in the area to meet a looming doctor shortage.

More than 60% of nearly 9,800 people receiving medical care as St. Marys patients came from outside Saginaw County, including the Great Lakes Bay Region, the Thumb and northern Michigan.

St. Marys has had a number of firsts, over the years, including the FlightCare helicopter, the first Level II trauma center and the first open heart surgery.

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Ascension Health Invests In Area Medical Facilities - WSGW