The Wayne County Commission voted Tuesday to provide a $500,000 grant to Insight Surgical Hospital to buy the now closed Vibra Hospital in Lincoln Park and renovate it into a space that can care for up to 80 coronavirus patients.

The 13-2 vote authorizes $500,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding to go to Insight Surgical Hospital, which has facilities in Warren and Flint. The money will come from the share of funding that Wayne County is receiving through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security or CARES Act passed by Congress.

Insight has plans to immediately convert the facility to provide up to 80 beds for COVID-19 patients and eventually turn it into a 440-bed surgical specialty facility that is focused on neurosurgery.

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"Many hospitals are at capacity, we must continue to act quickly amid this crisis to support our health care system," Wayne County Executive Warren Evans said in a statement. "Insight Surgical Hospital can provide immediate relief in Wayne County through increased beds and help decrease the chance of COVID-19 exceeding overall capacity. Over the long term, there is also great potential here as a state-of-the-art neuroscience center in Lincoln Park."

Insight plans to invest $1.5 million in short-term renovations at the former Vibra Hospital, which closed in 2018, and $20 million over the long term. It expects to create more than 300 jobs at the facility.

"The COVID-19 crisis of 2020 is an existential threat to our community. It has consumed the collective resources of our country, the repercussions of which will be felt for generations," said Dr. Jawad Shah, a neurosurgeon who is CEO and chairman of the Board of Directors of Insight. "Time is of the essence for all in the health care community to respond to this unprecedented challenge to save precious lives.”

The 128,000 square-foot Vibra Hospital is located on a 14-acre site on West Outer Drive in Lincoln Park.

"This facility has been underutilized for years," said Lincoln Park Mayor Thomas E. Karnes. "Beyond serving an important role in the regional response to COVID-19, we are excited for the long-term prospects at this site. Having a functioning hospital there again would spur other investment and also provide a boost to some of the important development under way in that area of Lincoln Park."

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.