Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship

Health care for children in the Great Lakes Bay Region will soon be more available as Central Michigan University Medical Education Partners establishes a pediatrics residency program that will reduce the region's pediatrician shortage. CMU Partners anticipates the program will welcome residents in July 2022.

"We are pleased to launch this program with Covenant HealthCare, an established partner of Central Michigan University and the region's leader in pediatric services," said Dr. Samuel Shaheen, executive director of CMU Medical Education Partners. "Building on the high standard of quality, compassionate care at Covenant, the residency program will create outstanding learning opportunities and expand an already significant array of specialty services to include pediatric neurology, endocrinology and infectious disease, allowing more families to receive first-class care close to home."

The new residency program exemplifies the synergies between CMU and regional communities to meet the population's critical healthcare needs. CMU residents and medical students will benefit from the program's learning opportunities. In addition, the program brings more than $1 million in graduate education funding from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services into the community.

"Expanding medical education is a strategic investment in the improvement of human health in our communities," said Dr. George E. Kikano, CMU vice president for health affairs and dean of the CMU College of Medicine. "The College of Medicine's mission is to educate physicians to provide excellent care to the under-served. Because the majority of physicians remain in the area where they conducted their residency, we are addressing the region's short and long-term need for pediatricians."

Covenant HealthCare is a part of CMU Medical Education Partners, the nonprofit entity that oversees the CMU College of Medicine's residency programs in Saginaw.

"As the major provider of pediatric care in the Great Lakes Bay Region and beyond, Covenant HealthCare is excited to be working with CMU's College of Medicine to bring a new pediatric residency to Saginaw," said Dr. Michael Sullivan, Covenant's chief medical officer. "This new academic program will certainly enhance the extraordinary care provided to the children we serve and their families."