William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak

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William Beaumont Hospital broke ground in 1953 under the working name Oakland Hospital and opened its doors on January 1, 1955, as a 238-bed community hospital serving Royal Oak and northern Oakland County. It was renamed for the pioneering frontier surgeon William Beaumont to distinguish it from nearby Oakwood Hospital, and it grew over the following decades into a major regional referral center with more than a thousand beds. Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the retired pathologist who campaigned publicly for assisted suicide and helped end dozens of patients' lives with his self-built “suicide machine,” was treated here at the end of his own life; he died of a pulmonary thrombosis at the hospital on June 3, 2011, at age 83. Following a 2022 merger with Spectrum Health, the hospital now operates as Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital, the flagship of Michigan's largest health system. It remains one of Michigan's busiest hospitals, treating patients from across metro Detroit.

1. Opened January 1, 1955, as the 238-bed Oakland Hospital, soon renamed.
2. Grew into a 1,000-plus-bed regional referral hospital.
3. Dr. Jack Kevorkian died here on June 3, 2011.
4. Now Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital after a 2022 merger.