Access to primary and specialty health care in the city of Detroit is expanding with the opening of the new 400 Mack Detroit Health Center in Midtown.

Wayne Health (formerly Wayne State University Physician Group), a 300-physician, multi-specialty group practice affiliated with the Wayne State University School of Medicine, began serving patients Sept. 15 at 400 Mack Ave., a newly renovated 50,000-square-foot health care facility. Services include a full range of integrated primary, preventive and behavioral health care by physicians and advanced practice providers in internal medicine, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and behavioral health.

The location is also home to the new Center for Population Health Accountability, offering novel, community-based and mobile approaches to “whole-person” care, addressing physical and behavioral health needs, and facilitating access to partner programs to address social determinants of health, such as poverty, housing, transportation and access to food that impact well-being.
 

Wayne Heath physicians have a long history of providing specialty care services for high-risk, vulnerable and underserved populations in Detroit. With the launch of 400 Mack, Wayne Health is extending its mission by dramatically expanding access to coordinated primary care, preventive health and chronic disease management services, sustainably enhancing community health and well-being in the city.

“The 400 Mack Detroit Health Center represents another new chapter in the evolution of the newly renamed Wayne Health,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Charles Shanley, M.D., who also serves as vice dean of Clinical Affairs for the Wayne State University School of Medicine. “It demonstrates our commitment and investment to lead innovation in whole-person care and to improve urban health outcomes through novel approaches to population health.”

The 400 Mack Health Center’s overarching focus is population health improvement, with the Center for Population Health Accountability at the core of these efforts.

The CPHA will use community-based, mobile outreach and technology-enhanced approaches to expand access to screenings, preventive health and chronic disease management services. The center will target interventions to specific at-risk populations in the city, guided by data from WSU’s Population Health Outcomes and Information Exchange, or PHOENIX, a novel health information platform.

“Our goal is to halt the development of future deadly, debilitating and costly downstream health complications by focusing on upstream risk reduction,” explained Phillip Levy, M.D., M.P.H., chief innovation officer of Wayne Health and assistant vice president of WSU Translational Science and Clinical Research Innovation. “Through community outreach partnerships and events, we will meet people where they are to provide care – including non-traditional settings such as neighborhood pharmacies, barber and beauty shops -- through telehealth and mobile units.”

This mobile, community-based approach to care was successfully deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic through a partnership involving Wayne Health, WSU, ACCESS and Ford Motor, headed by Dr. Levy. As of mid-September, more than 15,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 through mobile screenings at more than 120 community locations across the region. Participants were also screened for psychosocial and other health care needs.

“Today marks the start of an exciting new era in health care in the city of Detroit that furthers Wayne State’s four-part education, research, clinical care and social accountability missions developed during its founding 152 years ago,” said WSU Vice President for Health Affairs and WSU School of Medicine Dean Mark Schweitzer, M.D. “400 Mack will provide comprehensive health care to an urban population facing a number of health disparities, and creating an innovative education and research platform for team-based care.”

Later in September, Wayne Pediatrics, another WSU clinical partner organization, will launch medical services for children at 400 Mack through a new Urban Children’s Health Collaborative aimed at building a healthier future for children and families through primary and specialty pediatric care, medical education and training, and population-based research.

“Wayne Pediatrics and the collaborative will reframe how children and families receive care and services within the context of the understanding of social determinants of health,” said Herman Gray, M.D., WSU professor and chair of Pediatrics. “This initiative will enable our faculty pediatric physicians to be more effective advocates, and help many more children live up to their fullest potential.”

To schedule an appointment with a Wayne Health provider at the 400 Mack Health Center or another location, call 877 WAYNE-HC (877-929-6342). To learn more about Wayne Health, visit www.WayneHealthCares.org.

For more information about Wayne Pediatrics, visit https://peds.med.wayne.edu or call 313-448-9600.