An innovative medical collaboration known as the Women’s Health center of West Michigan (WCHWM) has emerged as an integral part of the growth along the Michigan Medical Mile in Grand Rapids. The site of the new $25 million, 108,000 square-foot, four-story facility overlooks the Gerald R. Ford Freeway/I-196 and is located within the new MidTowne Village development near the intersection of Collage and Michigan Streets. Proponents of the center call it an alliance that integrates a range of services to highlight, promote and advance the health care of women.

The list of medical specialists located at the WCHWM included obstetrics and gynecology, infertility and reproductive endocrinology, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic floor surgery, plastic surgery and psychology. Also within the multi-disciplinary medical facility for women will be ancillary services such as physical therapy, lactation consulting, imaging, bone density screening, ultrasound, mammography and a laboratory draw center. In addition, the center will offer medically supervised aesthetic services like laser skin treatments and Botox injections, plus a full-service pharmacy.

With approximately two-thirds of the center currently under lease, oncology and cardiovascular medicine services have been identified as potential growth areas for the remaining space, along with gerontology, endocrinology, orthopedics, dermatology or other specializations. Retail oriented operations may eventually offer food, clothing or other services catering specifically to female customers. The center design also includes an attached parking facility with 475 spaces, covered drop-off areas and convenient surface parking next to the building.

Having a variety of practitioners in one facility, with easy access to the Spectrum Health downtown campus, is expected to enhance collaboration and communication between the physicians and service providers. Partners and investors in the project see a wide variety of possible future connections due to the center’s close proximity to the Van Andel Institute and the burgeoning campus of MSU’s College of Human Medicine.

Adam Blickley, MD, if Newton, Frank, and Blickley Obstetrics & Gynecology is one of the founding physicians involved in the WHCWM. “The range of services, the quality of patient care and the entire scope of the center is exciting,” he says “We expect this facility to become a medical destination for the region.’ Dr. Blickley says the basic idea of the center has been on the drawing board for approximately a decade and finally came to fruition about two years ago.

Michelle Klyn, MD, of Spectrum Health Primary care Partners OB/GYN Division calls the project an opportunity to focus on the complex and diverse nature of issues in women’s health and provide a comprehensive, coordinated approach to women’s care. “We’re a group of west Michigan physicians who believe in the concept and who came together to achieve the common goal of improving care for women,” Dr. Klyn notes.

Ground breaking for the new center occurred in May 2006. Now at the midpoint of its construction phase, the project is moving forward under the developmental auspices of Pinnacle Construction Group. “We consulted with several groups of women patients to come up with a building design that was very inviting, warm and easy to navigate,’ say Michael Garret, president of Pinnacle Construction Group. The projected completion date for the Women’s Health Center of West Michigan is the summer of 2008.