GRAND BLANC — McLaren Health Care, the statewide health care provider with 15 hospital-based and freestanding emergency departments, has established the position of Chief Medical Director of Emergency Services with Crystal L. Arthur, MD, FACEP, joining the system to assume the newly created role.

Through her leadership, Dr. Arthur will collaborate with emergency providers and leaders of McLaren’s emergency departments to advance the care and experience of patients, focusing initiatives to bolster and enhance patients’ clinical outcomes and experience while maintaining operational efficiency.
“The presence of a skilled physician leader, one with firsthand, frontline experience, can effectively enhance the care and experience of both the patient and the provider in the emergency department,” said Dr. Binesh Patel, McLaren Medical Group President and CEO. “Dr. Arthur possesses an impressive combination of experience as a provider and leader. She has demonstrated that capacity throughout her career, and we are fortunate to welcome her to our organization.”
In the summer of 2023, the majority of McLaren emergency departments transition from contracted emergency medicine providers to direct employment with McLaren Medical Group. This allowed for greater collaboration and operational alignment between the provider staff and McLaren system and subsidiary leadership.
Treating nearly 400,000 patients every year, McLaren provides emergency services at 11 of its inpatient hospitals and four freestanding emergency departments throughout the state, the most recent of which — McLaren Oxford — opened in September. McLaren Grand Ledge, a medical office building anchored by an emergency department just west of downtown Lansing, broke ground this summer and is scheduled to open in late 2025.
Dr. Arthur brings extensive experience to her new role, with nearly 20 years in clinical practice and several in physician leadership positions. Most recently serving as an attending physician at multiple Metro Detroit emergency departments, she spent the previously 16 years with the Detroit Medical Center, ultimately leading as Chief of the Emergency Medicine Department at multiple hospitals, including Detroit Receiving, Harper University, and Hutzel Women’s. It was at the DMC that she oversaw the daily operations of emergency departments caring for 55,000 patients annually, as well as serving an integral role in the planning of a multimillion-dollar expansion project.
Dr. Arthur earned her undergraduate and medical degrees from Wayne State University and completed her emergency medicine training at Detroit Receiving Hospital, rising to Chief Resident. She continued her education and training by completing the Michigan College of Emergency Physicians Leadership Development Program as well as both phases of the American College of Emergency Physicians ED Directors Course.