In July 2024, Central Michigan University announced the move of its College of Medicine to Saginaw. The first expenditure for this project was approved by the Board of Trustees on Feb. 13, according to an article from Central Michigan Life.

The board authorized President Neil MacKinnon to hire legal consultants and development officers for an amount of up to $1.2 million through Dec. 31, 2026.

“As we’re moving ahead, we’re realizing that there are some additional costs; for example, one of the things was legal,” MacKinnon told CM Life. “There’s a lot of legal implications … with the medical school.

“There’s no shovels in the ground, we’re not at that point yet, but just in the planning process, and if we don’t have those resources, it would slow down any progress that we’re making.”

Additionally, board’s Chair Todd Regis said CMU is still deciding whether it will move the CMED to Saginaw at all, according to the CM Life article.

“We are taking steps towards making a decision,” Regis said. “Are we going to move it, or are we not? We haven’t made that decision. The board hasn’t said we’re moving yet. The president hasn’t said to us, ‘Hey, we’re moving.’

“But the only way we’re going to find out is if we spend some time, and we need help in some areas to get there. A lot of decisions (are) still to be made, but this is a step toward helping make those decisions.”

However, in July 2024, the then-CMED Dean George Kikano said CMU hopes to complete the move by 2028. He said the goal was to move freshmen and sophomore students because Saginaw has more hospitals for them to train at.

“That’s a very bold move,” Kikano said at the time. “That’s an aggressive timeline. It’s an aggressive capital campaign. But the benefit here is for the whole region anywhere from Mount Pleasant all the way to Saginaw. This is not just economic impact in Saginaw, this is putting CMU ... on the map.”

Kikano said in July the move would cost $200 million, and they planned to start fundraising in fall 2024.

On March 6, of this year, however, Kikano announced that he is stepping down from the role of the dean. The exact details of his final day and succession plan have not been disclosed.

From November 2024 to March 2025, CM Life made several attempts to obtain an update on the project’s timeline and progress. Kikano refused to comment.

Michigan State Sen. Roger Hauck (R-34) raised concerns about CMED’s move to Saginaw, especially about what benefit it would bring for Mount Pleasant and how CMU would be able to raise the funds, in an opinion piece published on Sept. 12, 2024.

“This decision has far-reaching implications for our community, and it is crucial that we demand transparency and accountability from those making these decisions,” Hauck wrote. “While moving the medical school may benefit Saginaw, we must consider the potential costs to Mt. Pleasant and CMU.”

In January, Hauck told CM Life that he had spoken with President MacKinnon and was more open to the move, if CMU backfills the number of lost students in Mount Pleasant with other programs.

He said MacKinnon explained that Saginaw has necessary residencies for learning assured that CMU will offer other medical programs here in Mount Pleasant.

“I just want everybody to understand that (State) Rep. (Jerry) Neyer and myself will do everything we can to make sure that if (CMED) does move over to Saginaw, that will be back filled with the nursing program and the PA (physician assistant) program, and that the students that come to the medical school will be able to have a good experience,” Hauck said.

Hauck said if CMU doesn’t backfill the students, it will have “a huge impact” on Mount Pleasant.

“I think it would affect the economy because you’re talking over 100 students moving away, right?” Hauck said. “That would be all the grocery stores, where they stay at.”

Meanwhile, Hauck said he sees a positive impact for the Tri-Cities.
“It’ll help salvage Saginaw tremendously, because there’ll be more going over there,” he said. “It’s going to rejuvenate. They have it fixed up in the downtown area, where they want to build it, so it will increase their downtown area quite a bit.”

In a perfect world, Hauck said, he would like CMU to build the new CMED campus in Mount Pleasant. But if they do move it to Saginaw, he said he still wants students to receive their white coats and have a graduation ceremony in Mount Pleasant, because it has the atmosphere of CMU.