Sparrow Health System is a 733 bed plus tertiary care center which
provides quality care to tens of thousands of people each year and
is Mid-Michigan’s premier health care organization and the region’s
largest private employer. Sparrow has two
Lansing campuses, affiliate hospitals in St. Johns, Carson City and
Ionia, dozens of satellite care centers, two health maintenance
organizations (Physician Health Plan of mid-Michigan and the Sparrow
Physicians Health Plan), the Sparrow Health Science Pavilion and the
highly popular Michigan Athletic Club.
Every year, through 24
residency programs established in partnership with Michigan State
University’s Colleges of Human and Osteopathic Medicine, the committed
clinicians at Sparrow Health System help train approximately 210
residents. Sparrow Hospital, the flagship of the Sparrow Health System,
was established in 1896, and is the regional center for cancer, trauma,
pediatrics, orthopedics, neonatal intensive care and neurological care.
The Sparrow Hospital emergency room is the only Level 1 Trauma Center
in mid-Michigan. Sparrow St. Lawrence campus serves as the regional
center for dialysis, behavioral health, hospice and long-term acute
care.
In January 2008, Sparrow Health System opened the new,
10-story Sparrow Tower at its main Lansing campus. The $160 million,
450,000-square-foot Sparrow Tower is the largest single expenditure
that has ever been made in this region to expand and improve health
care services, and demonstrates Sparrow Health System’s commitment to
the residents of mid-Michigan and its vision for bringing the latest
technological advances to enhance the patient care experience.
In February
23, 2009 Sparrow and MSU signed a formal affiliation that will
significantly improve the region’s health care by increasing research
opportunities, attracting sub-specialist physicians and enhancing
medical and nursing education to address the state’s and nation’s
looming shortage of physicians and nurses. The
agreement will include the commitment to develop collaborative efforts
to constantly improve quality of care in the region, and achieve
national benchmarks in patient care, service and access, establish a
joint institutional review board to streamline the review of potential
research projects and an emphasis on attracting new medical research
and clinical trails to the region.
Lansing
is Michigan's State Capital, the heart of the Great Lakes State with a
population of 250K. Lansing boasts the influence of state government,
Michigan State University (MSU). The campus of MSU is only 5 minutes
from Sparrow Hospital. Lansing has several entertainment attractions
including the Breslin Center for sporting events and concerts and The
Wharton Center for concerts, Broadway shows and other main attractions.
The Lugnuts, a professional minor league baseball team makes its home
in Lansing at Oldsmobile Park. For the health conscious, the Michigan
Athletic Club (MAC),a division of Sparrow Health System,is available.
In addition to the traditional fitness equipment and training, the MAC
has several programs for all members including winter golf programs and
summer day camp programs for kids. The MAC also contains an indoor
pool. Lansing also has a Town and Country Club, The University Club.
This club hosts several events and activities for both adults and
families. Three large shopping malls are located in Lansing and contain
stores such as Macy's, Pottery Barn, and several others. Lansing and
the surrounding area have several school systems that consistently
exceed averages for the State's MEAP scores. In addition to MSU,
Lansing Community College is available.