Granholm Announces Accretive Health to Expand in Detroit and Kalamazoo, Adding 650 New Jobs

Governor Granholm today announced that Chicago-based Accretive Health plans to expand operations in Detroit and Kalamazoo

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today announced that Chicago-based Accretive Health, aleading provider of revenue cycle management services to hospitals, plans to expand operations in Detroit and Kalamazoo. The aggressive expansion is expected to create 650 jobs at Accretive Health in Detroit and Kalamazoo over the next five to seven years. Assistance provided by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation helped bring these jobs to Michigan over competing sites in other states. The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and Southwest Michigan First were instrumental in the coordination of the project and incentives to help secure the company’s growth in Michigan.

Accretive Health has been working in partnership with Ascension Health’s Michigan Ministries for three years on a number of projects, a key element of which is qualifying patients for charity care and identifying potential payment sources for patients who are uninsured and underinsured. The success of the projects led to the decision to expand this service to other Ascension Health ministries in other parts of the country. The expansion of the company will result in new jobs being created, and others brought in from other states.

“The partnership between Ascension Health’s Michigan Health Ministries and Accretive Health is the kind of emerging business venture that is helping us diversify our economy,” Granholm said. “This expansion, and the hundreds of new jobs it will create, is further evidence that we are a great state for companies to grow and do business.”

“Accretive Health is excited to partner with Ascension Health in this effort to create new, challenging and rewarding employment opportunities which will benefit the Michigan economy,” said Mary Tolan, Founder and CEO of Accretive Health.

Patricia Maryland, CEO of St. John Health and Ascension Health Michigan Ministry Market Leader, said she was pleased that the hospital system could play a key role in the opportunity to bring jobs to the state. “St. John Health and Ascension Health employ 30,000 people state-wide, and we all have a stake in building a successful future for our families,” she said.

The Accretive Health expansion is one of 18 the governor announced today. In all, they are expected to create and retain a total of 21,602 Michigan jobs.

“When competing for new jobs and investment, our competitive business climate and highly-specialized workforce certainly give us an upper hand,” MEDC President and CEO James C. Epolito said. “Together with the cities of Kalamazoo and Detroit and our great economic development partners Southwest Michigan First and the Detroit Economic Development Corporation, we made a strong business case to win this expansion and these new jobs.”  

Based on the MEDC’s recommendation, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority board today approved a state tax credit valued at $5.4 million over seven years to win Accretive’s expansion. To support the project, the city of Detroit is considering a three-year personal property tax abatement for Accretive. In addition to tax abatements, the city of Detroit has offered the company parking incentives to accommodate their growing workforce needs.

“We are encouraged by the decision of Accretive Health to expand in the City of Detroit,” DEGC President and CEO George Jackson Jr. said. “Downtown Detroit is a natural home for growing knowledge-based companies like Accretive Health. Their decision to expand in Detroit is a testimony to the assets we have here -- in terms of talent, place, and business base.”

The city of Kalamazoo has proposed a three-year abatement worth $14,000 and will work with the Accretive Health to identify additional downtown parking.

“The expansion of Accretive Health in downtown Kalamazoo provides a tremendous partnership opportunity for area hospitals and employment options for our healthcare professionals,” Southwest Michigan First CEO Ron Kitchens said. “Additionally, 500 more jobs in downtown Kalamazoo is an advantage for the entire downtown district. The contributions of the city of Kalamazoo and Downtown Kalamazoo Inc. to this effort exemplify the creativity and willingness of our community to make great things happen here.”

An economic analysis conducted by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation estimates that increased economic activity created by the expansion will create 492 indirect Michigan jobs, in addition to the potential 650 created directly by Accretive. The project is expected to generate more than $277 million in personal income for Michigan workers over the life of the tax credit.

Founded in 2003, Accretive Health provides revenue cycle management services to hospitals, and currently employs approximately 350 people in Michigan. Its revenue cycle management service includes pre-registration, scheduling, and admissions, as well as compliance. In health care, there are many extremely complex processes, since there are hundreds of diagnoses and numerous insurance contracts and guidelines.

AscensionHealth’s Michigan Health Ministries are St. John Health in Detroit, Borgess Health in Kalamazoo, Genesys Health System in Grand Blanc, St. Joseph Health System in Tawas, and St. Mary’s of Michigan in Saginaw.  

St. John Health is the largest provider of inpatient care in Southeast Michigan and one of the largest employers in metro Detroit. St. John Health provides comprehensiveprevention, primary care and advanced treatment programs with more than 125 medical centers and seven hospitals spanning five counties. 

Ascension Health is transforming healthcare by providing the highest quality care to all, with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable. Ascension Health, which provided $926 million in care of persons who are poor and community benefit last year, is the nation’s largest Catholic and nonprofit health system. Ascension’s Mission-focused Health Ministries consist of 107,000 associates serving in 20 states and the District of Columbia.  

In her 2008 State of the State address, Granholm emphasized the importance of creating opportunity in the changing world of the 21st century. Since January 2005, the Governor and the MEDC have announced the creation or retention of more than 279,000 jobs as a result of targeted assistance provided by the MEDC.

About Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is the state’s marketing arm and lead advocate for business development, job awareness and community development with the focus on growing Michigan’s economy. For more information on the MEDC and our initiatives, visit www.MichiganBusiness.org. For Pure Michigan® tourism information, your trip begins at www.michigan.org. Join the conversation on: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn, and Twitter.