An $83 million behavioral health hospital is coming to Lansing's North Pennsylvania Avenue, filling a gap that has forced families with children in psychiatric crisis to drive at least an hour for inpatient care.
UM Health-Sparrow broke ground Wednesday, Aug. 5, on the Janice M. Granger Behavioral Health Building, a 64-bed facility near the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Jerome Street on the former Lansing Eastern High School site. The hospital is expected to open in 2028.
Sixteen of those beds will serve children and adolescents, making it the region's first dedicated inpatient behavioral health unit for young people.
"Right now, if you're under 18 and you need inpatient care, you have to go at least an hour away," Michael Nanzer, executive director for behavioral health at UM Health-Sparrow, said at the groundbreaking. "There's literally no options in our community to get that service right now."
The project is named for the late Janice M. Granger, a nurse known for supporting educational opportunities in Lansing. Her husband, Alton Granger, and their son Glenn Granger both spoke at the ceremony. The family's gift through the Alton L. and Janice M. Granger Charitable Gift Fund is the largest donation in UM Health-Sparrow's history, though the exact dollar amount has not been disclosed.
The project is 70% funded, according to WILX.
Lansing Mayor Andy Schor framed the facility as an answer to a visible crisis downtown. He said not a week goes by without someone raising concerns about people with behavioral health issues on city streets, and that the city's shelters often cannot accept people who need psychiatric care.
The building will house inpatient and outpatient programs, a gym, a commercial kitchen and indoor and outdoor gardens. Officials described the design as featuring "light-filled spaces" meant to support healing.
Sheppard Pratt, a national behavioral health organization led by president and CEO Harsh K. Trivedi, is partnering on the project.
Michigan Medicine CEO Dr. David Miller called the groundbreaking "a transformative moment for the state," according to a UM Health press release. UM Health Regional President Margaret Dimond and U-M Regent Sarah Hubbard also spoke at the ceremony.
The facility has been in discussion for years. As recently as summer 2025, plans called for 88 inpatient beds. The current 64-bed design includes room to expand if demand warrants it, a hospital spokesman told the Lansing State Journal.
UM Health-Sparrow also broke ground on a separate $60 million surgery center in Lansing in July. The health system has not announced a specific month for the behavioral health building's 2028 opening.
