It takes a village

Faced with the question of what to do with an aging, under-used hospital in northeast Detroit, St. John Health, Warren, MI, turned to the community for help in developing a plan for transforming the campus in a way that would better meet local needs. Through meetings and interviews with local residents, St. John Health learned that community members needed job training, career development, employment, health care, housing, and a safe environment. To meet these needs, St. John Health developed a plan to convert the facility, ST. John NorthEast Community Hospital, into a senior housing community called "Conner Creek: A partnership for healthy lives." Inpatient care has been phased out. Now St. John Health is working with local partners to build affordable, safe, and attractive apartments for seniors. Plans call for Conner creek to offer a wide variety of supportive services to complement the housing and to meet needs identified by the community. a nursing school, chronic care services, job training, and recreational activity areas are among the offerings under consideration. Townhouses may be added in the future. St. John Health's leaders say that Conner Creek May prove to a model for urban health care sites in need of revitalization.