Wallside Windows co-owner Stuart Blanck is cutting another enormous check for Corewell Health, this time a $20 million donation that will put the Blanck family name on the health system’s new outpatient center in Royal Oak. The donation, announced alongside plans for the facility, deepens a long-running relationship between the Blanck family and the hospital campus across 13 Mile Road. Corewell leaders say the money will support both construction and the day-to-day programming inside the new care hub.
The health system plans to call the new Royal Oak building the Corewell Health Stuart, Lorraine and Martin Blanck Care Center, according to The Detroit News. Corewell says the gift comes as part of an ambulatory-focused campus expansion that will grow outpatient and specialty services right next to the main hospital. Officials peg the overall project cost at about $75 million.
About the center
The two-story, 89,000-square-foot center will sit on 13 Mile Road across from William Beaumont University Hospital and is scheduled to open in 2027, according to CBS News Detroit. Plans call for primary care, behavioral health and digestive health clinics, along with medical office space. The building will also feature an ambulatory surgery center with four operating rooms designed for lower-complexity procedures, which Corewell says should help keep many of those patients out of the main hospital.
“We’re really trying to create new access,” Lamont Yoder, president of Corewell Health East, said at the groundbreaking, emphasizing the system's goal of treating more patients closer to home. He added that the new center will allow Corewell to serve an additional nearly 20,000 people every year, according to Signature Associates.
Blanck's philanthropy
Blanck is already a familiar name on the campus. In 2019, he gave $21 million to Beaumont Health to support emergency medicine, a gift that led to the creation of the Stuart H. Blanck Emergency Center, according to a 2019 release from Corewell/Beaumont. Blanck, who co-owns Wallside Inc., also serves on the Corewell Health Foundation Southeast Michigan board, The Detroit News reports.
Local reaction and context
During the city review, the project sparked questions about tree loss and landscaping buffers along the site. City officials and the developer ultimately said they reached design compromises to address those concerns. The expansion is also landing at a tense moment for Corewell’s workforce. Nearly 9,000 unionized nurses in southeast Michigan recently voted to authorize a strike as contract talks stalled, according to WXYZ. Hospital leaders say outpatient sites like this can help ease pressure on inpatient units, but they still rely on having enough clinical staff in place to run safely.
What’s next
Construction and interior build-out are expected to wrap up in 2027, and Corewell officials say the Blanck family’s donation will help cover both the bricks-and-mortar costs and future program growth inside the building. CBS News Detroit reported the project timeline and the mix of services the center plans to offer.
