Detroit Jewish Chronicle
and The Legal Chronicle_
SECTION THREE
10c Single Copy; $3.00 Per Yee!
DETROIT, MICHIGAN, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1944
VOL. 46, NO. 37
THE DETROIT JEWISH HOSPITAL
By DR. DAVID J. SANDWEISS
Various Jewish groups in De-
troit long have had the vision of
a Jewish Hospital.
As early as 1900, the Hebrew
Ladies' Aid Society for Widows
and Orphans made arrangements
with the Poor Commission to
provide medical care for its
clients at Harper Hospital, at
the then current rate of $4 per
week.
The movement has been con-
stant and insistent since that
date. At times it has sprouted
sporadically and irresponsibly; at
others, it has been brought for-
ward under dignified auspices.
responsibly sponsored and care-
fully planned. The persistency
with which it has appeared in
the annals of the Detroit Jewish
community life is shown in the
following chronological history:
1900—
Foundling of the Hebrew
Ladies' Aid Society for Widows
and Orphans, a private group in-
terested chiefly in the provision
of medical services for indigent
women and children, providing
hospital care at Harper Hos-
pital.
1902—
An out-patient clinic wai
opened in the Self Help Circle
Bldg., Brush and Montcalm Sts.,
by the Hebrew Ladies' Aid So-
ciety, thus expanding their orig-
#rilrtilres
inal hospitalization program.
1905—
The clinic was transferred to
the Hannah Schloss Bldg., where
the scope of medical care and
the hospitalization of indigent
persons was broadened.
1913—
The Hebrew Hospital Associa-
tion, composed of a large group
of men and women, who felt the
need of a Jewish medical insti-
tution, was chartered as a non-
profit organization with the aim
of accumulating funds for the
building and maintenance of a
Jewish Hospital in Detroit. The
Association co 11 e c t e d $8,000
through nominal contributions,
with which it purchased a lot.
This lot was sold during the real
estate boom, for $40,000, which
sum was placed in trust with the
Jewish Welfare Federation and
earmarked for a Jewish Hos-
pital.
Research Bureau Survey—
1923-
Extends to Detroit Jewry Best Wishes
For a Joyous and Prosperous
\ew Year
Schettler's wishes its friends and patrons
the compliments of the season. May the
coming year bring you the success
for which you are striving, the
happiness you are craving, the
good health to enjoy
them both.
Again, A Gladsome and Glorious
New Year!
*rtlettler's
G, Gfto,„
1944
5705
Rosh Hashonah Greetings
To All Our Friends and To All Mankind
•
ROSH HASHONAH GREETINGS
To all our friends and to all mankind
everywhere we extend our sincerest
wishes for a good year. We thank them
for their faithful patronage and hope
for the privilege of continuing this
most pleasant friendship. We join all
in their ardent prayers for a speedy
victory and a lasting peace.
.
A comprehensive study of the
Detroit Jewish Community was
conducted by the Bureau of Jew-
ish Social Research, of New York.
Referring to the health situa-
tion, the survey emphasized the
need for a hospital under Jewish
auspices, pointing out that De-
troit was, at the time, the only
large city in the United Sates
without such an institution. The
Bureau recommended he estab-
lishment of a Jewish Hospital of
125 to 150 beds, one-third of the
bed capacity to be used as ward
beds, for free and part-paying
patients.
Such a hospital, the survey
pointed out, would meet the fol-
lowing community needs:
"Relieve the general over-
crowding of the existing hos-
pitals.
"Provide Jewish surround-
ings and kosher food."
"Furnish adequate hospital-
ization to Jewish indigents,
though open to non-Jews.
"Organize an out-patient de-
partment with social service
activities which could become
the health educational center
for the entire Jewish com-
munity.
"Create opportunities for
research work."
"Promote close cooperation
between the hospital and local
Jewish agencies.
"Stimulate interest among
Jewish women in nurse-train-
ing."
1926-
1. The 1923 survey was re-
examined. Dr. S. S. Goldwater,
at that time superintendent of
Mt. Sinai Hospital of New York,
and a national authority on hos-
pital planning, made the follow-
ing statement in a letter to the
Jewish Welfare Federation:
"There is no doubt in my mind
that the Jewish community of
Detroit will suffer more and
more (and I am thinking not
only of the handicap to the Jew-
ish profession, but of the wel-
fare of the community at large),
if Detroit does not give up the
New Year's
Greetings
from
DEL-THE THEATER
8935
Mack
•
MAXINE THEATER
Mack
7639
•
YOUR THEATER
distinction of being the only
first-class city in the United
States today, without a Jewish
Hospital, either in being or un-
der way."
2.
North End Clinic was
opened in its present quarters,
936 Holbrook Ave., through the
gift of the Wineman family.
Hospitalization of its patients was
a problem that presented itself
almost at once. Several funds
were provided from time to time
for this purpose.
beds, with ultimate plans for a
300-bed institution, or a small
40 to 50-bed hospital at the pres-
ent North End Clinic site.
1929-
1. A report on the Jewish Hos-
pital situation was made by Dr.
John Slawson, then executive di-
rector of the Jewish Welfare
Federation, to a committee of the
Federation, in which he indicated
the need for a Jewish Hospital,
urging the Federation to launch
a Hospital Project.
Benefits to the Community
North End Clinic
Hospitalization Funds
(a) Loan Fund: — A revolving
fund of $1,500 to be used
for hospitalization of patients
who are unable to meet the
expense load at one time.
(b) Jewish Welfare Federation's
Hospitalization Fund: — Es-
tablished in 1927 through
the annual appropriation of
$3,000 from the annual
Spring drive, for the hos-
pitalization of indigents.
(c) Hebrew Hospital Association
Fund:—Derived from the in-
terest on the investment of
the $40,000 (mentioned
above), is available for hos-
pitalization of certain pati-
ents recommended f r o m
North End Clinic.
Federation Names
Committees
3. Two committees were ap-
pointed by the Jewish Welfare
Federation for the purpose of
promoting plans for a Jewish
Hospital:
(a) T h e Provisional Committee
on a community-wide build-
ing fund, which went on
record in favor of a Jewish
Hospital.
(b) The Hospital Building Site
Committee, which presented
three alternative sites for a
Jewish medical institltion:
(1) Collingwood, Petoskey
Boston
and Otsego; (2)
Blvd. and Petoskey; (3)
Woodward Ave., south of
the Fair Grounds, east side
of Woodward.
4. At a meeting of the Board
of Governors of the Jewish Wel-
fare Federation, in Nov., 1926,
Milton Alexander and Judge
Harry B. Keidan, president and
chairman of the Jewish Centers
Association, respectively, present-
ed a memorandum calling atten-
tion to the necessity for taking
steps toward the establishment
of a Jewish Hospital. They sug-
gested either a hospital of 150
"The fundamental reason for
the need of a Jewish Hospital,"
stated Dr. Slawson, "is the pro-
tection of the Health welfare of
the Jewish community.
"The hospital," he maintained,
"would benefit the community:
"By making available adequate
hospital facilities for the Jewish
doctors, to be used for develop-
mental purposes, both technically
and ethically, thus rendering a
higher grade of medical service
to the Jewish patients of the city,
since most Jews tend to use Jew-
ish physicians.
"By making available Jewish
surroundings through the medium
of Jewish management, Jewish
doctors and other employees, thus
creating an atmosphere psycho-
logically agreeable to certain
types of Jewish patients and pre-
venting the discomforts incident
to surroundings incompatible with
the habits, customs and tradi-
tions of a vast segment of our
people.
"By making available free or
part-pay care for Jewish patients
who are unable to pay part or
full cost; particularly those Jew-
ish patients who are definitely
unhappy in municipal institutions
which we know to be the case
from daily experiences with Jew-
ish clientele. The establishment
ofo Jewish family agencies, child
care agencies and recreational
agencies has been motivated, in
a large measure by the same con-
siderations."
1929 Survey
2. A survey of the hospital
situation in Detroit, with refer-
ence to the need of a Jewish
Hospital, was made by the Hos-
pital Committee of North End
Clinic, in 1929. This study was
presented at a joint meeting of
the doctors, the board of trus-
tees of the clinic and representa-
See HOSPITAL—Page 2
t
bosh Hashonah
Greetings
We Extend Our Greetings and Best Wishes
for the New Year
May it be a Year of Much Happiness and
Peace Throughout the World
•
•
3748 E. Forest
ALOMA THEATER
15003 Charlevoix
•
EAST END THEATER
11510 E. Jefferson
GIS
•
FLAMINGO THEATER
14270 E. 7-Mile Rd.
1440 Washington Boulevard
ti'llitiago
Stare
Mit higati
at
arkson
lilv d
•
PLAZA THEATER
11641 E. Jefferson
1426 Woodward Ave.