Detroit: Motor City to Medical Mecca?

[Detroitnerd]

That's just argumentative and obtuse.

Yes, bartock. It's also known as SATIRE or HUMOR.

[bartock]

Yes, bartock. It's also known as SATIRE or HUMOR.

Point taken. Have a good weekend.

[Detroitnerd]

Point taken. Have a good weekend.

Hey, you too!

[fryar]

The report that prompted that blog post is issued by a group that was founded and is funded by the UAW and the Big 3. That might explain why [[metro) Detroit, specifically, is suggested as a possible future medical Mecca. So maybe it's suspect.

That said, I can only imagine the Mayo Clinic is not a drag on the Minnesota economy. This is as reasonable an idea for bringing in some outside bucks as anything else. It would have to be something like the Mayo Clinic, though, something that draws medical tourism, in order to really have a big impact, I should think.

A case could be made that the existing infrastructure for that kind of thing is pretty good [[little traffic on the Interstate from DTW to Detroit, etc). That, and the land is cheap. You could build a whole campus.

It certainly couldn't hurt to bring a bunch of Doctors into the city/region.

[Detroitnerd]

The report that prompted that blog post is issued by a group that was founded and is funded by the UAW and the Big 3. That might explain why [[metro) Detroit, specifically, is suggested as a possible future medical Mecca. So maybe it's suspect.

That said, I can only imagine the Mayo Clinic is not a drag on the Minnesota economy. This is as reasonable an idea for bringing in some outside bucks as anything else. It would have to be something like the Mayo Clinic, though, something that draws medical tourism, in order to really have a big impact, I should think.

A case could be made that the existing infrastructure for that kind of thing is pretty good [[little traffic on the Interstate from DTW to Detroit, etc). That, and the land is cheap. You could build a whole campus.

It certainly couldn't hurt to ring a bunch of Doctors into the city/region.

Much of what you say makes sense [[and is amusing), but my criticism isn't of Mayo Clinic or even hospitals in general. It is this "Eds and Meds" idea, that we are going to rebuild and reinvigorate our cities by building massive university and medical campuses. I tend to overstate things [[fire for effect, you know?) but I think it's a fair criticism that we can't hospitalize or matriculate our way out of the problems we have. We need jobs for normal people, and they won't come from servicing the service economy alone. Somebody needs to make something for all this to work.

As for big campuses, sigh ... it all just sounds like more retrograde 1960s thinking of megacampuses and monorails, and none of those pesky neighborhoods or small businesses ...

[fryar]

Much of what you say makes sense [[and is amusing), but my criticism isn't of Mayo Clinic or even hospitals in general. It is this "Eds and Meds" idea, that we are going to rebuild and reinvigorate our cities by building massive university and medical campuses. I tend to overstate things [[fire for effect, you know?) but I think it's a fair criticism that we can't hospitalize or matriculate our way out of the problems we have. We need jobs for normal people, and they won't come from servicing the service economy alone. Somebody needs to make something for all this to work.

As for big campuses, sigh ... it all just sounds like more retrograde 1960s thinking of megacampuses and monorails, and none of those pesky neighborhoods or small businesses ...

I hear you. But some of the Detroit geography is hardly vibrant. Maybe you take a couple of those blocks and create a park-like setting for people to rehab, or whatever it is medical tourism does. It doesn't have to be exclusive, people can pass through or go for a walk there or whatever. Just make it something where folks won't have to confront social ills on their way to buy some coffee or get a newspaper in the place they're staying while they're miserable.

I also hear you about the Eds and Meds approach, at least the Meds bit. I heard, for example, that MI paid to retrain a bunch of laid-off auto workers as nurses. Lulz all around! But besides that, it's like my dad's joke about the West's ageing population, where pretty soon there's no one left but pensioners and pension administrators. Pretty soon, all Michiganders will be sick or taking care of the sick.

Thanks for finding me amusing. I aim to please.

[oladub]

This is a map of Mayo Clinic's largest center in downtown Rochester, MN. Note how all the patient facilities are linked together with underground or skyway walks which is really nice in a Minnesota winter. All the patient buildings are walking distance of each other with hotels and restaurants and hotels in between for patients who do not need bed care, relatives, and other visitors. The airport is nearby. This is what medical tourism could look like if you want to adopt it for Detroit. It is a nice place for doctors and everyone else to raise their families.

Mayo Clinic map

[Ezri]

Some of you believe that a project that could help produce jobs in the city, manufacturing is necessary...
Well, maybe you guys don't know that through medical reseach this is possible.
I remember one of the doctors working at DMC invented a brand new valve for people with heart problems. Maybe this is not the kind of stuff people usually talk about and that's why few people know about the great achievements done through medical research at DMC.
Next step would be to set up the facilities to manufacture the stuff invented through research. Maybe they exist already? If they don't, there's plenty of space available to do that...
I remember I read some decades ago that DMC was also one of the top 5 cancer research centers in the nation.