UM-Flint is opening its First Street Residence Hall to medical professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doctors and nurses who work at hospitals in Genesee County will be able to stay in the hall, which has been renamed the Healing Heroes Home, beginning April 3.
“The role of a university is to be a community partner in good times and bad,” said UM-Flint Chancellor Deba Dutta.
“When we heard of the need for a place for these medical professionals to get a break that would keep them and their families safe, we knew our residence hall would be an optimal space for them. We are proud to step up and help these heroes at this critical time.”
In Ann Arbor, University Housing staff continue to pack up any student belongings left behind and thoroughly clean the campus residence halls that now are mostly empty.
Those facilities are being readied, should they be needed, for temporary housing for Michigan Medicine health care providers. Several residence halls are within walking distance to the university’s medical center.
MORE INFORMATION
- Online registration: umflint.edu/lodging or call 810-237-6571
Students still living on campus have largely been consolidated into the West Quad and South Quad residence halls.
Medical professionals who stay in the UM-Flint hall will pay a nominal $20 nightly fee and have access to bedrooms, bath space and kitchens. There will be no charge for them to park on campus. They will also have access to free Wi-Fi.
Students who had been living in the First Street Residence Hall, which has about 300 beds, either returned home or were moved to the Riverfront Residence Hall. UM-Flint staff worked quickly to prepare the dormitory to serve as a temporary home for doctors and nurses.
“In a time of extreme stress, doctors and nurses need a place of comfort where they can get away, knowing that they are keeping their families safe from the spread of the virus,” Dutta said. “We will make every effort to create a pleasant environment so they are refreshed and ready to serve the citizens of Genesee County during this unprecedented moment in history.”
