Featured photo:Councilperson Lewis, Senator Cherry, Dr. Jawad Shah (Insight CEO and Founder), Mayor Neeley, Nadir Ijaz, and Jim Ananich (CEO of the Greater Flint Health Coalition)
By Tanya Terry
Construction recently began on a new Insight Hospital, which is for those requiring both medical and behavioral care.
“We’ve already broken ground,” said Nadir Ijaz, chief operating officer for Insight Surgical Hospital.
“So, the campus that our main facility is based off of is the old Fisher Body facility in Flint, at 4800 S. Saginaw,” added Ijaz. “It’s about 600,000 sq. feet of space. Within that, we started construction of phase one of the med-psych hospital facility, which is going to be 24 beds. Then, eventually, we are going to complete our entire phases, which is going to be 70 beds.”
The community in Flint and Genesee county currently do not have in-patient med-psych facilities within the county. The closest med-psych facilities are in Saginaw.
“So, patients that are seen for psychiatric and medical issues combined will either have to be transferred to Detroit, to Ann Arbor or up to Saginaw,” explained Ijaz. “Not just in Flint and Genesee County, but throughout the entire nation, mental health is becoming a bigger and bigger area of focus. For this community to have a med-psych facility built into it is going to only allow for there to be more patient care available to them immediately.”
Ijaz added proximity is of the utmost importance for a community, such as Flint.
Patients will be admitted from referring public safety agencies, area hospitals, and community clinics, according to information provided by Insight.
“I can speak in general to the needs of the patients that are coming from Hurley, McLaren and Genesys. Each one of these hospitals has their own psychiatry division and departments. But med-psych is a division that deals with patients that have medial conditions and they also have psychiatric conditions as well. Unfortunately, the need for these patients is high because a lot of patients that have psychiatric needs also have mental conditions that require to be served. For a community that is going to have a facility built into it, it will allow individuals to be served quicker and faster.”
According to Ijaz, any clinic in and around Flint will be able to refer clients.
Ijaz stated a grant from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services for $2.5M is helping to fund the construction of the space for the first 24 beds.
“As an institution, Insight has continued to develop and grow. As the needs of the community has changed, we’ve tried to grown and develop with those needs to serve them to the best of our abilities. The $2.5 million allowed us to move quicker than we would have otherwise been able to move.”
Ijaz pointed out Senator John Cherry was pivotal in helping secure the $2.5 million grant.
“We estimate it will be around the fall of 2026 for all 70 beds. For the initial 24 beds, we estimate it will be around the fall of 2024.”
The total capital expenditure for the 24 beds will be approximately $5 million. The total investment for the full buildout will be about $20 million.
Councilperson Ladel Lewis, Senator John Cherry, Dr. Jawad Shah (Insight CEO and founder, who is a neurosurgeon by trade), Mayor Sheldon Neeley, Ijaz and Jim Ananich (CEO of the Greater Flint Health Coalition) were all present for the start of construction for the hospital on October 30.
Ijaz said the support Insight received from the city level, county level and state level have all been critical for Insight to be able to move forward.
“I think all of them realize this is going to be another victory for the city of Flint.”
In addition, Insight’s local partners are Hurley, McLaren and Genesys, as well as local academic institutions such as University of Michigan-Flint and Michigan State University.
Insight also provides Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village (SBEV), on Flint’s north end, their state-of-the-art facilities for youth camps, volunteers and expert instructors in youth programming, according to the Insight website.
