The unique clinical partnership between the two non-profit health systems will provide
Saginaw-area patients with more access to complex care in their own communities.
People living in the Saginaw area will soon be able to
take advantage of a brand-new partnership between Covenant HealthCare and Henry Ford
Health that stands to deepen the region’s clinical resources, enhance local care, and
improve care coordination for some of the most complex cases.
The new affiliation formalizes a longstanding clinical relationship between the
organizations, creating a clear pathway to receiving advanced sub-specialty care at Henry
Ford Health, while upholding provider and patient choice.
At the center of this affiliation will be a novel neurosciences partnership known as
Covenant HealthCare in partnership with Henry Ford Health Neurosciences. The
partnership will leverage Henry Ford Health’s expansive neurosciences network and
expertise to further deepen the Covenant HealthCare neurosciences program, which
includes an award-winning stroke program and treatment for more than 20 neurological
disorders.
Through this partnership, Henry Ford Health neurosciences clinicians will join Covenant
HealthCare providers in treating patients on-site at Covenant facilities in the Saginaw
area, as well as virtually via Henry Ford’s existing specialty center in Saginaw. The
partnership will focus on four key areas: neurosurgery and spine, stroke, neurology, and
neuro-oncology.
“Our two organizations have a long history of collaboration. This partnership allows us to
build on the strength of our existing neurosciences program by leveraging Henry Ford
Health’s specialized expertise,” said Beth Charlton, President and CEO, Covenant
HealthCare. “By working together, we can provide more coordinated care for our
patients and have the ability to treat even more complex neurological cases in Saginaw—
bringing extraordinary care closer to home for patients across the Great Lakes Bay Region.”
Henry Ford Health’s Detroit-based neurosciences program is world renowned, with
patients seeking treatment of conditions like ALS, brain tumors, and traumatic brain or
spinal injuries, as well as access to groundbreaking research and clinical trials. Covenant
HealthCare conducts roughly 15,500 neuroscience patient visits annually and has long
referred many of their most complex neurology cases to Henry Ford Health; that often
means patients must travel from the Saginaw area to Detroit for care. Through this
partnership, many of those appointments can now occur in the Great Lakes Bay Region,
reducing the amount of time-consuming and sometimes costly trips Saginaw-area
patients must make for care.
“We are extremely excited about what this partnership means for the patients in Saginaw
and the Great Lakes Bay Region,” said Bob Riney, President and CEO, Henry Ford Health.
“Our experts are eager to partner with our Covenant HealthCare colleagues and to give
patients in this area a clearer pathway to coordinated care for some of their most complex
diagnoses, which we treat every day in our Henry Ford Health facilities.”
The two organizations also plan to build a brand-new joint neurosciences outpatient facility
on the Covenant HealthCare Mackinaw Campus in Saginaw Township. Eventually, all the
partnership’s neurosciences care will be provided out of that location. Details of that plan
are forthcoming.
The partnership becomes effective April 1, 2026. Covenant HealthCare will integrate Henry
Ford Health’s clinicians into its neurosciences program later this year.
About Covenant HealthCare
Covenant HealthCare is a non-profit regional health system dedicated to delivering
extraordinary care for every generation across Michigan’s Great Lakes Bay Region and
beyond. From moms-to-be to babies to great-grandfathers, families trust Covenant for a
full continuum of high-quality, compassionate care. The health system offers a
comprehensive range of inpatient and outpatient services, including high-risk obstetrics,
neonatal and pediatric intensive care, acute care, primary care, cardiology, oncology,
orthopedics, robotic surgery, neurosciences, rehabilitation, a Level II Adult and Pediatric
Trauma Center, and more. In 2025, Covenant HealthCare was recognized by U.S. News &
World Report as one of Michigan’s “Best Regional Hospitals,” placing Covenant HealthCare
in the top 10% of hospitals in the state.
About Henry Ford Health
Serving communities across Michigan and beyond, Henry Ford Health is a premier
healthcare services company dedicated to helping people live their best lives. More than
50,000 team members provide exceptional care and service at more than 550 sites across
Michigan, surrounding patients, members and customers with everything they need from
primary, preventive and urgent care to the most complex and specialty care; health
insurance coverage, retail needs including pharmacy and eye care; and a full suite of home
health and virtual care services.
Henry Ford Health is also a leading academic institution, committed to advancing
tomorrow’s healthcare through clinical innovation, groundbreaking clinical trials and
translational research, and training the next generation of healthcare professionals.
Headquartered in Detroit for more than a century, Henry Ford Health has also remained
proudly committed to serving our most vulnerable communities, advancing community
health programming, and providing more than $780 million annually in uncompensated
care and coverage.