On August 26, the National Institute for Health Care Reform (NIHCR) released a report examining health care organization, financing, and service delivery in the Detroit metropolitan area.  The report challenges the assertion that Detroit can transform its economy to focus on the health care sector instead of the automotive sector.  The authors suggest that the $1.3 billion in capital improvement projects planned by Detroit-area hospitals may lead to higher health care costs if hospitals fail to attract new patients.  The NIHCR is a non-profit formed in 2007 by the United Auto Workers (UAW), General Motors (GM), Chrysler, and Ford to study health care costs and trends.

From the report:

As the Detroit area develops an overall strategy for economic renewal going forward, some envision the health care system as playing a major redevelopment role, to the point that “Medicine could possibly replace motors as the engine of Detroit,” according to a May 2010 National Public Radio broadcast. While this view may be overly optimistic, there is evidence of considerable vitality in Detroit’s tradi­tionally strong health care system.

Full report: Detroit: Motor City to Medical Mecca? (PDF | 673.53 KB)  

National Institute for Health Care Reform. (2010). Detroit: Motor City to Medical Mecca?