Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau announces launch of Medical Meetings Initiative; recruits top leaders to Advisory Council

"Think Detroit. Think Medical." to leverage health science assets, national influence of health care leaders to attract medical industry meetings to region, strengthen economy

DETROIT, June 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau (DMCVB) today announced the launch of Think Detroit. Think Medical., a collaborative effort of area health care leaders to bring medical-related meetings to Detroit and contribute to the state's economic recovery. The announcement was made today at the Michigan Health & Hospital Association board of trustees meeting on Mackinac Island.  

"Medical meetings are an untapped market for the metro Detroit region," said Bob Riney, 2012 chair of the DMCVB and president and chief operating officer of Henry Ford Health System. "As I often have traveled to Boston, Chicago and other major metropolitan areas for industry meetings, I have become convinced that southeast Michigan should be the destination for more of this business.

"The Detroit region has unique medical assets including physicians and health care leaders who are nationally recognized as experts in their field. We have some of the most innovative practices in health care quality, wellness design, surgical technology and simulation, and more." 

Medical meetings will generate an estimated 18.2 million room nights in competitive cities over the next eight years.  The economic impact generated is in excess of $9 billion. 

"The potential is huge. Detroit's differentiator is its edginess. We are a region on the rebound," says Riney. "Health care is mission-driven. Our health sciences assets, our diversity … these are our strengths. People want to come and see what makes this region a medical magnet. We can take people behind the scenes to see innovations at work at unique medical destinations. We need to ask for the business."

The DMCVB can accommodate meetings of all sizes, with and without exhibit space, in Detroit and surrounding suburbs. The newly renovated Cobo Center is creating a buzz among national meeting planners, according to the DMCVB.

A Medical Meetings Advisory Council comprised of senior physicians and executives of the collaborating health systems was announced as part of the launch. (See list below.)

"Health care leaders have agreed to leverage their influence at the national level to help reinvent Michigan starting with the Detroit region," said Riney. "Health care is a major contributor to the state's economic recovery. Think Detroit. Think Medical. is an example of the positive impact of the state's health systems working together for the good of the whole."

For information on Think Detroit. Think Medical. visit www.meetdetroit.com or call: 800 DETROIT (338-7648).

Medical Meetings Initiative
Advisory Council*

Beaumont Health System
Dr. Jeffrey DeVries, Director, Graduate Medical Education

Botsford Hospital
Dr. Paul LaCasse, CEO

Detroit Medical Center
Dr. Suzanne White
Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer

Henry Ford Health System
Dr. William Conway
Sr. VP/CMO, Henry Ford Hospital & Chief Quality Officer, Henry Ford Health System

Karmanos Cancer Institute
Dr. Gerold Bepler, CEO

Medical Main Street
David J. Schreiber
Chief Strategist, Oakland County Economic Development & Community Affairs

McLaren Health
Mark O'Halla
President & CEO, McLaren Macomb

Michigan Health & Hospital Association
Brian Peters
Executive Vice President - Operations

Oakwood
Dr. Michael Geheb
Executive Vice President, Physician Planning and Operations

St. John Providence Health
Mary Naber
Chief Administrative Officer, Michigan Market

Trinity Health
Garry Faja
Regional Market Executive - SE Michigan

University Research Corridor
Jeff Mason, Executive Director

*Advisory Council in formation. List as of 6/18/12

The Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau is a private, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to market and sell the metropolitan Detroit area on a worldwide basis as a destination for leisure and business travel including conventions, trade shows corporate meetings, tours and incentive travel and as a film location to maximize additional visitors, visitor expenditures, state and local tax revenues, and job opportunities.

More than 700 businesses are represented in the DMCVB's membership. The DMCVB was founded in 1896 as the world's first convention and visitors bureau. www.visitdetroit.com

SOURCE Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau