On Oct. 30, 2013, the Karmanos Cancer Institute and McLaren Health Care signed an agreement that created the largest cancer research and provider network in Michigan.

The Institute was founded in 1943, and in 1995, was renamed after Barbara Ann Karmanos, the late wife of Peter Karmanos Jr., former chair and CEO of Compuware Corporation, and a long time financial supporter of the Cancer Center. Barbara Ann Karmanos succumbed to breast cancer at the age of 46.