Beaumont Health issued a press release on March 19 announcing it had filed a certificate of need application with the State of Michigan to build a new 117-bed hospital in Oxford Township.

The estimated $140 million facility would be located at the southeast corner of Lapeer Rd. (M-24) and Market St.

Beaumont filed its application with the state Department of Health and Human Services, which will decide whether or not to approve the project. The approval process will be complete by July, according to the release.

If approved, Beaumont expects construction could begin sometime in the next two years.

The proposed 225,000-square-foot facility would include five floors and a mechanical penthouse. Beaumont stated that additional details regarding the proposed hospital will be revealed at a later date as the process continues.

In the release, Beaumont stated the proposed hospital is meant “to meet the community health care needs of an underserved area of Oakland County.”

Beaumont Health CEO John Fox was quoted as saying, “We are still very early in this process. But, as Michigan’s largest health system, it is our duty to serve the community and provide as much access as possible to our connected network of high-quality medical care providers.”

The Michigan Certificate of Need Commission recently reviewed the hospital beds in the state and identified Oxford as a “limited access area” community, according to Beaumont’s release.

A limited access area is defined as a geographic area which the state has determined does not have enough hospital beds to meet the future needs of local residents within a 30-minute driving distance.

“When the state identified a need for health care in Oxford, we stepped up to fill the gap,” Fox said in the release. “We are always looking for ways to expand our commitment to serving our region and provide care close to where our patients live.”