Henry Ford's Nancy Schlichting Honored By Crain's

DETROIT (WWJ) - Henry Ford Health System Chief Executive Officer Nancy Schlicting has been honored by Crain's Detroit Business as Newsmaker of the Year.

Schlicting calls it a very nice surprise. A major project in which she's involved that's making headlines: the merger with William Beaumont Health System.

"We really appreciate the opportunity to work with Beaumont," said Schlicting. "We have over 600 people engaged in the process from board level to front-line management. We're working both on the due-diligence aspects; more the financial and legal and also the merger-vision works. So, very exciting times for us."

William Beaumont Health System's President and CEO Gene Michalski outlined the reasons for the merger.

"With health reform coming, we expect less money in the system," Michalski said. "Together, we believe that we can build the healthcare system of the future, have a national voice in shaping the healthcare reform in some form or fashion and create a scalable platform for others to join us."

The merger of Henry Ford and William Beaumont Health Systems is expected to be a done deal later this year.