Corewell Health plans $1.7B in expansion projects: Questions and answers

Corewell Health has unveiled plans for major expansions of two hospitals.

The Michigan-based health system said last week that it is planning to invest $1.7 billion in new hospital towers at Corewell’s campuses in Grand Rapids and Troy.

Here is a rundown of the plans.

Q: What’s happening in Grand Rapids?

A: Both projects are substantial, but the plans for Corewell’s Butterworth Hospital campus in Grand Rapids are the bigger of the two.

Corewell is planning a $1.34 billion project which includes an 11-story tower at the Butterworth campus. The project calls for a new emergency department, 180 private rooms and 17 operating rooms.

Q: What’s planned in Troy?

A: Corewell plans to spend $440 million on the transformation of the Corewell Health Beaumont Troy Hospital campus.

The plans call for an 8-story tower with 180 private rooms and a new emergency department. The Troy hospital’s ER is one of the system’s busiest, with 106,000 visits annually.

Q: What’s driving these projects?

A: Both Grand Rapids and Troy are seeing substantial growth, the system says. And both hospital campuses are packed consistently.

Both the Butterworth and Troy hospitals regularly are over 90% of capacity.

Tina Freese Decker, president and CEO of Corewell Health, said the projects will serve growing communities and patients with more complex needs.

“This is a once-in-a-generation investment in Michigan’s healthcare future and it reflects our commitment to making healthcare more personal, delivering extraordinary care and making it easier for people to access the services they need,” Freese Decker said in a statement.

In an interview with Chief Healthcare Executive® in June, Freese Decker cited some of the capacity challenges in the system.

“We want to see everybody,” she said. “We want to see them more from a prevention perspective, and when people show up in the ER and we don't have enough beds for them upstairs, it makes it much more difficult to do.”

Q: When will the work begin?

A: Corewell says some local approvals will be required, but construction of both projects is expected to begin in the summer of 2027.

Q: Is there local support for the projects?

A: When Corewell announced the projects, the health system included statements of support from the mayors of Grand Rapids and Troy.

Grand Rapids Mayor David LaGrand said: "The significant investment Corewell Health is making in our city to meet immediate and future increased patient demand will undoubtedly help provide people across West Michigan with greater access to modern, high-quality healthcare.”

Troy Mayor Ethan Baker said: “The new hospital tower will create a better experience for patients and families and will support the future health needs of our community. We welcome this significant commitment to Troy and look forward to the positive impact it will have for years to come.”

Q: When will the projects be finished?

A: Corewell expects the towers in Grand Rapids and Troy will be finished by 2030.

Q: Does this project reflect a building boom in hospitals?

A: More health systems are moving ahead with construction projects, analysts say. Capital spending at nonprofit hospitals reached a 17-year high in the 2025 fiscal year, according to Fitch Ratings.

Mark Pascaris, senior director and analytical lead of Fitch Rating's U.S. nonprofit hospitals, said in a webinar this month that hospitals are moving forward on projects that may have been postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think there was a little bit of pent-up demand in terms of the capital need coming out of the pandemic and the labor-demic, and we start to see an uptick in terms of spend,” Pascaris said.