Topping Off ceremony held on Oct. 4

By C.J. Carnacchio
Oxford Twp. Communications and Grants Manager
OXFORD TWP. – On Oct. 4 afternoon, folks gathered at the McLaren Oakland construction site on M-24 for a ceremony celebrating the placement of the final steel beam on the new two-story, 54,000-square-foot ambulatory care facility.
“(This ceremony) symbolizes positive growth, good luck for future occupants and a job well done,” said Dr. Daniel Wahl, emergency department medical director. “It takes an incredible amount of hard work and passion to bring together a new building.”
Oxford Township Supervisor Jack Curtis said it’s “absolutely phenomenal” to see how much progress has been made since the groundbreaking ceremony was held in April.
“Just before the start of the summer, we stood outside our Oxford campus and stuck shovels into the ground, officially starting this project that we had been so eagerly anticipating,” said Tracey Franovich, McLaren Oakland President and CEO. “The completion of this remarkable steel structure represents a tangible achievement of this project, but also signals that we are a significant step closer to treating our first patient in an emergency department that the community of Oxford so rightly deserves.”
When it opens in the fall of 2024, McLaren’s new $35 million ambulatory care facility will provide medical services on an outpatient basis and include the following:
• Freestanding emergency department
• Comprehensive diagnostic imaging center
• Oncology clinic including pharmacy
• Physical therapy and cardiac rehab
• Lab
• Primary care services
• Multi-specialty clinic
“This new facility will bring cutting-edge health care to this community and allow patients to receive world-class care whether they walk in or are brought in by EMS,” said Dr. Wahl.
“McLaren has a proud history and deep ties to Oxford, and we’re grateful that this investment will be so beneficial to so many” said Chad Grant, McLaren Health Care Chief Operating Officer. “Enhancing commonly used services and increasing access to care is just one sign of our long-term commitment to a community and its members, and we’re greatly anticipating the day the full vision of this project will be brought to fruition.”
“I’m glad that we’re getting an updated medical center here in Oxford,” said Supervisor Curtis. “I’m glad (McLaren has) the property to expand should (the state) allow us to expand (the scope of medical services available) in the future, which is desperately needed here.”
Dr. Wahl noted this new facility will give McLaren’s staff an opportunity to continue “doing what’s right for our patients.”
“As someone who lives and works in the community, I get to see the passion every day that everyone has for taking care of people,” he said.
Before the final steel beam was placed by a large crane, it was signed by members of the McLaren Oakland team, construction workers, representatives of the Oxford Fire Department and Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, Supervisor Curtis and others.
The building’s frame contains 477,036 pounds of structural steel, 16.2 tons of steel joist, 5,360 bolts and 54,600 square feet of steel deck. A total of 6,400 work hours have gone into the project so far.