Henry Ford Health and Trillium join forces providing mental health care

Henry Ford Health, Trillium team up for mental health services

The agreement brings about 100 beds to address the shortage of providers and capacity.

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. (FOX 2) - Henry Ford Health is partnering with Trillium Behavioral Health Services at its Madison Heights campus to add inpatient behavioral health care, while continuing to offer 24-7 emergency services.

Big picture view:

Trillium will own and operate the facility purchasing the hospital and run the behavioral health beds with a capacity of about 100 projected.

While Henry Ford will continue to run the emergency department as a tenant, this decision addresses the need for in-patient care in Michigan.

According to Michigan’s 2026 psychiatric bed inventory from the Department of Health and Human Services, the state still has an identified unmet need for at least 159 additional inpatient psychiatric beds.

Denise Brooks-Williams is the Henry Ford Health COO.

Hilary Golston FOX 2: "Can you quantify how this village gap what’s still needed?"

"I hope people will see 100 beds as very significant," she said. "There is a shortage as to the providers that we have. And there definitely is a need for more beds and more capacity to serve."

This setup allows for coordination. Patients in crisis in the ER can be stabilized and then transferred directly to the on-site behavioral health unit.

This move robustly expands mental health capacity, which is sorely needed due to an exacerbation of need during the COVID era and a lack of services.

Staffing is still a challenge statewide because of a shortage of mental health professionals. The Oakland Community Health Network handles mental health in the county - here’s their take.

"When it comes to in-patient psychiatric beds, the more the better," said Vasilis Pozios, the chief medical officer. "Having more psychiatric beds in Oakland County especially, adds another arrow to our crisis continuum services quiver. We are better able to serve the people of Oakland County, and better able to get folks connected to the psychiatric services they sorely need."

Henry Ford Heath won't incur any new costs, only consolidating some services. The timeline is about a year, following renovations.