Munson Medical Center in Traverse City has been named a Top 100 Hospital* 13 times and is among three hospitals in the nation to be recognized so often. It serves as the regional referral center for 24 counties and is the largest hospital in northern Michigan. Munson is a Level II Trauma Center and has an award-winning Heart Center. It has the only Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and inpatient Behavioral Health services in the north.
History Of Munson Medical Center
The beginnings of Munson Medical Center can be traced to James Decker Munson, MD, who donated a boarding house for use as a community hospital in 1915. Later to become known as Munson Medical Center, the hospital was northern Michigan’s first general hospital, and was organized as the hospital division of the State Psychiatric Hospital. The facility has grown from 21 to 391 licensed beds, and is the largest hospital in the region. Through the years, Munson Medical Center has grown and improved services, including the first open-heart surgery on July 3, 1990. It is thought that this procedure was the beginning of the many regional services now provided by the Munson Healthcare system.
Though Munson Medical Center became affiliated with Kalkaska Memorial Health Center through a management agreement in 1976, it wasn’t until 1985 when Paul Oliver Memorial Hospital in Frankfort affiliated with Munson Medical Center that Munson Healthcare was officially organized as a system of health care providers.
The Munson Healthcare System now includes Munson Medical Center, Cheboygan Memorial Hospital, Paul Oliver Memorial Hospital, Kalkaska Memorial Health Center, Mercy Hospital Grayling, Mercy Hospital Cadillac, Otsego Memorial Hospital, and West Shore Medical Center. Munson Healthcare employs more than 5,000 people, and as a regional, non-profit system, it offers a continuum of health care services for communities across 24 counties
