Famous people's places / Detroit – New Center
Henry Ford Hospital
The New Center hospital Henry Ford financed and opened in 1915, tied to figures from Bob Seger and Frida Kahlo to Frank Murphy and Francis Ford Coppola.
01 / The story of this place
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Henry Ford stepped in to rescue a stalled charity-hospital project in 1914, repaying its debts and completing it as Henry Ford Hospital, which admitted its first 48 patients on October 1, 1915, on twenty acres he bought in what is now the New Center neighborhood. Ford personally recruited its physicians, modeling its salaried, closed-staff practice on Johns Hopkins Hospital, the first such system in the country, and led the hospital until his death in 1947; his grandson Henry Ford II, who built much of the modern automaker, died there in 1987. The hospital's roster of famous patients spans decades: rocker Bob Seger was born there in 1945, filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola in 1939, and Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was treated there after a 1932 miscarriage, an ordeal that inspired her painting Henry Ford Hospital. Michigan governor and Supreme Court justice Frank Murphy died there in 1949, and longtime US senator Carl Levin in 2021. Now the flagship of Henry Ford Health, the hospital remains one of Detroit's major teaching and research hospitals.
- Opened October 1, 1915, financed and led by Henry Ford
- Bob Seger and Francis Ford Coppola were both born here
- Frida Kahlo was treated here in 1932, inspiring her painting Henry Ford Hospital
- Frank Murphy, Henry Ford II and Carl Levin all died here
Famous Detroiters
Famous people tied to this place 14
Lexicon entries for the people who lived, worked, performed or liked to spend time here.
- Henry Ford 1863–1947 · automaker, industrialist, founder of Ford Motor Company
Founded
The hospital he financed and opened on West Grand Boulevard, today the flagship of Henry Ford Health.
- Frida Kahlo 1907–1954 · painter
Related place
Where she was treated after her miscarriage in July 1932; the stay inspired her painting Henry Ford Hospital.
- Francis Ford Coppola born 1939 · film director, screenwriter, producer
Born here
Coppola was born here in April 1939; the hospital is one of the two Ford links behind his middle name.
- Bob Seger born 1945 · singer, songwriter, musician
Born here
The New Center hospital where he was born in 1945.
- Henry Ford II 1917–1987 · automotive executive, president and chairman of Ford Motor Company
Related place
The hospital founded by his grandfather, where he died in 1987.
- Carl Levin 1934–2021 · politician, lawyer
Related place
The hospital where he died on July 29, 2021, aged 87.
- Frank Murphy 1890–1949 · mayor of Detroit, governor, U.S. Supreme Court justice
Related place
He died in his sleep here on July 19, 1949; more than 10,000 people attended his Detroit funeral.
- Fredy Perlman 1934–1985 · author, translator, publisher
Related place
He died here on July 26, 1985, while undergoing heart surgery.
- Ulana Suprun born 1963 · physician, activist, health minister of Ukraine
Worked here
She did mammography research here and became acting director of women's imaging.
- Alexa Canady born 1950 · pediatric neurosurgeon
Worked here
Where she began her professional career before moving to Children's Hospital.
- Vincent Chin 1955–1982 · draftsman, hate-crime victim
Related place
Hospital where Chin died on June 23, 1982, four days after the attack.
- Clara Bryant Ford 1866–1950 · philanthropist, suffragist, wife of Henry Ford
Related place
She supported the hospital's nursing school, founded in 1925, and died here in 1950.
- Mani Menon born 1948 · urologist, surgeon
Worked here
Home of the Vattikuti Urology Institute, opened in 2001 under Menon, the first institute to use robotic surgery to treat prostate cancer.
- John Todd 1876–1957 · radio and stage actor
Related place
The New Center hospital where Todd died in 1957.
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Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-25
An independently written bilingual guide. This collection is not an attendance-based ranking.
03 / Events
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