Central Michigan University has started construction on a new medical education building in Saginaw, Michigan, creating a permanent home for all four years of its College of Medicine program.
CMU broke ground September 22 on the MyMichigan Health CMU Medical Education Building, a nearly 90,000-square-foot facility that will be built on the MyMichigan Health campus in Saginaw.
The project will bring together medical students, faculty and clinical partners in a purpose-built academic facility while becoming a major component of Saginaw’s developing Medical Diamond.
The new building is scheduled to open for the fall 2028 semester.
A new four-year home for CMU’s medical school
The project will change how Central Michigan University delivers its medical education program.
Since the College of Medicine opened, its medical education has been split between Mount Pleasant and Saginaw. First- and second-year students have primarily studied in Mount Pleasant, while third- and fourth-year students have moved into clinical training in Saginaw.
The new facility will allow the Doctor of Medicine program to operate from Saginaw for all four years.
That move places students closer to MyMichigan Health, Covenant HealthCare and other clinical partners while giving the medical school a single academic base for classroom instruction, simulation, clinical preparation and student activities.
The facility is also being designed to support enrollment growth. CMU says the building will be programmatically scaled to accommodate up to 130 medical students per cohort, subject to available clinical capacity. The medical school currently has about 104 students in its cohorts.
The university will continue to maintain health and research activities at its Mount Pleasant campus, while the new Saginaw building becomes the primary home for the four-year medical education program.
$100 million project backed by major healthcare commitments
CMU’s Board of Trustees approved the full project in June 2026, authorizing an estimated $100 million investment in the new facility.
The approval followed major commitments from the university’s two principal healthcare partners.
MyMichigan Health and Covenant HealthCare each pledged $40 million toward the project in 2025. The combined $80 million commitment represented the largest philanthropic support in CMU’s history and provided the foundation for the medical education building.
The project will be financed primarily through philanthropic support, with CMU also using other financing and institutional resources as needed.
The building was named the MyMichigan Health CMU Medical Education Building in recognition of MyMichigan Health’s contribution. The medical school itself carries the name Covenant HealthCare College of Medicine at Central Michigan University following Covenant’s commitment.
The partnership reflects the close relationship between the university and the two health systems, which have supported CMU’s medical students, residents and fellows through clinical education.
HDR designs a specialized medical education facility
HDR is designing the new facility as a four-story academic building with a fifth-floor mechanical penthouse.
Rather than relying on conventional classrooms alone, the building will combine academic spaces with specialized environments for clinical education.
The ground floor will include the main lobby, student commons, multipurpose rooms, a student lounge and kitchen, and a fitness center.
The second floor will house much of the advanced clinical training program, including a Standardized Patient examination suite, high-fidelity simulation rooms and the dean’s suite.
The third and fourth floors will contain classrooms, problem-based learning rooms, anatomy teaching spaces, and faculty and administrative offices.
The design also includes flexible-use areas for collaboration and student study.
CMU and HDR have incorporated elements intended to connect the building to Saginaw’s architectural and industrial history. Wood, brick, glass and resilient metals will be used throughout the project, while the design draws on the mid-century modern character of the neighboring MyMichigan Medical Center.
Wood elements also reference Saginaw’s history as a major lumber center.
The university says the building will emphasize natural light, collaboration, wellness and flexible learning environments.
Medical education becomes part of Saginaw’s Medical Diamond
The new CMU facility is being developed as part of the broader Medical Diamond initiative in Saginaw.
The initiative brings together medical education, healthcare, research and related institutions around the city’s riverfront and hospital campuses, with the longer-term objective of developing a larger healthcare and bioscience district.
CMU’s medical education building will join other healthcare and education investments in the area, including facilities associated with MyMichigan Health, Covenant HealthCare, the Saginaw County Health Department and Saginaw Valley State University.
For CMU, locating the medical school within that emerging district provides more than a new academic address.
Students will spend their entire medical education in the same region as their principal clinical partners, creating more opportunities for interaction with physicians and healthcare professionals throughout the four-year program.
The location also gives students more time to build relationships with the Saginaw community before they enter the workforce.
A larger pipeline for Michigan’s healthcare workforce
CMU has linked the project to its broader effort to expand healthcare education and strengthen Michigan’s physician workforce.
The College of Medicine was established in part to help address physician shortages, particularly in rural and underserved communities. Moving the full program to Saginaw gives the university a larger facility and the ability to accommodate a bigger student cohort.
The university expects the new building to support stronger connections between medical students and regional healthcare providers.
MyMichigan Health and Covenant HealthCare have similarly positioned their investment around the need to develop the next generation of healthcare professionals.
The project also has implications for CMU’s Mount Pleasant campus. Once medical students move to Saginaw, space currently occupied by portions of the medical program could become available for expanding nursing and other health-profession programs.
That gives the Saginaw project a second role within CMU’s broader healthcare expansion: it creates a dedicated medical education center in Saginaw while opening additional capacity for health programs in Mount Pleasant.
Construction underway ahead of 2028 opening
The September 22 groundbreaking marks the transition from planning and fundraising to construction.
CMU expects construction to continue through 2028, with faculty and staff moving into the facility during summer 2028. Students are expected to begin classes in the new building in fall 2028.
When complete, the nearly 90,000-square-foot facility will consolidate CMU’s four-year medical education program in Saginaw and provide dedicated classrooms, simulation facilities, clinical-training spaces and student amenities.
The building will also give the Medical Diamond a major academic anchor as Saginaw continues developing its healthcare and bioscience presence.
For Central Michigan University, the project represents a shift from a medical program divided between two locations to one centered around its clinical partners in Saginaw. For the city, it adds a permanent medical education institution to a larger district being developed around healthcare, education and research.
The development of CMU’s new medical education building is part of a broader pattern of healthcare institutions investing in specialized facilities that connect education, clinical care and long-term workforce needs. A similar approach is taking shape in Connecticut, where the Smilow Cancer Hospital Project at Greenwich is expanding the Yale New Haven Health system’s cancer-care infrastructure. Together, the projects highlight how major healthcare developments are increasingly designed around both the facilities themselves and the long-term medical services and professionals they are intended to support.
Project Factsheet: MyMichigan Health CMU Medical Education Building
- Location: Saginaw, Michigan
- Owner: Central Michigan University
- Estimated Project Cost: $100 million
- Size: Nearly 90,000 square feet
- Architect: HDR Inc.
- Major Partners: MyMichigan Health and Covenant HealthCare
- Major Contributions: $40 million each from MyMichigan Health and Covenant HealthCare
- Building: Four stories plus a fifth-floor mechanical penthouse
- Medical School: Covenant HealthCare College of Medicine at Central Michigan University
- Planned Capacity: Up to 130 medical students per cohort, subject to clinical capacity
- Key Facilities: Standardized Patient exam suite, high-fidelity simulation rooms, anatomy teaching spaces, problem-based learning classrooms, student commons, lounges, fitness center, faculty offices and administrative spaces
- Development: Part of Saginaw’s Medical Diamond
- Construction Start: September 2026
- Expected Faculty and Staff Move: Summer 2028
- Expected Student Opening: Fall 2028
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