rUP FRONT

Siegel Teaches Men And Women Mind Over Matter

ELIZABETH A PPLEBAUM

_

Features Editor

D

r. Bernie Siegel car-
ries stories, not stethe-
scopes, in his black
doctor's bag.
He pulls them out, one by
one, each a testimony to his
belief in the healing power of
what he calls "peace of mind."
Take the story of a man told
he had 99 percent chance of
dying. Instead of despairing,
he opted for the 1 percent
chance for life, Dr. Siegel said.
lbday, that man is alive.
Dr. Siegel, who was in
Detroit this week leading a
workshop as part of a nation-
wide tour, is the author of

Love, Medicine and Miracles
and Peace, Love and Healing.
Dr. Siegel believes so strong-
ly_ in man's power to heal
himself that he says anything
— including cancer and AIDS
— can be cured.
Dr. Siegel had been working
as a physician for a number of
years when he heard a patient
say, "I need to learn how to
live between office visits."

Not knowing how to res-
pond, Dr. Siegel was
frustrated. While well-versed
in the most modern medical
techniques, "my training was
not oriented to people," he
said.
Dr. Siegel said many doctors
face the same crisis and turn

to drugs or alcohol. But Dr.
Siegel began to rethink his ap-
proach to medicine. He decid-
ed to focus on the patient's
mental state, which reflects
directly on his physical well-
being, he said.
He recalled the case of a
woman who had laryngitis for
six months. Rather than
prescribe a bottle of medicine,
Dr. Siegel said he spoke at
length with the woman, who
finally revealed to him that
she hated her job.
"The most painful thing I
learned is what people's lives
are really like," Dr. Siegel
said.
Dr. Siegel believes many
men and women were raised
in homes where they were not

Bob Steinberg: No More
'Gloom And Doom' For Sinai

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Staff Writer

B

y the end of the year,
Sinai Hospital could
merge business opera-
tions with Henry Ford
Hospital or the Detroit
Medical Center, according to
Sinai President Robert
Steinberg.
Sinai officials have met
repeatedly during the past
year to discuss possible af-
filiations with both hospitals.
Steinberg said joining forces
with Ford or DMC would help
increase the patient load at
Sinai, which regularly fills
between 350 and 400 of its
650 beds.
Steinberg, who was elevated
last week from his position as
interim administrator to
president and chief operating
officer, said an affiliation
could be as minor as joint pro-
grams with another hospital
to a major, full-blown merger
of institutions. But, he added,
no merger will take place
unless Sinai keeps its name
and its Jewish identity.
"Sinai will be here for some
time," Steinberg said.
Affiliating with another
hospital is part of Steinberg's
plans to revamp a 36-year-old
institution, maintain its
Jewish identity and rid itself
of its image as a troubled,
, inner-city hospital.
When he took over the helm
of Sinai a year ago, Steinberg
said he felt confident that
fund-raising and improved
marketing would help the
financially strapped
institution.
Sinai officials no longer
speak of relocating the

hospital to the burgeoning
suburbs, where the majority
of the Jewish community
members reside. And they
scoff at talk of selling the in-
stitution. Steinberg dismisses
speculation that Ford will
purchase Sinai, saying any af-
filiation will be mutually
beneficial.
Today a health care
marketing professional is on
staff, and public relations

Bob Steinberg:
Plans for the future.

staff members are developing
a new logo for the hospital
and its satellite facilities. It
will be renamed from Sinai
Hospital of Detroit to Sinai
Hospital to emphasize its at-
tributes and not its location.
In addition, officials are
preparing for the hospital's
first major fund-raiser in-
dependent of the Jewish
Welfare Federation's Allied
Jewish Campaign. Officials
hope to raise at least
$150,000 from The Heritage

Ball, a $500-a-couple dinner
scheduled for Oct. 18, and
from a $1,000 a couple pre-
dinner cocktail party next
Wednesday, which includes
tickets to the dinner.
"It is not gloom and doom
anymore," Steinberg said. "It
is very upbeat and a lot of
things will happen:'
Although the hospital still
faces a $4 million deficit,
Sinai has been operating at a
small profit during the past
six months, Finance Vice
President Paul Szilagy said.
"We are doing the best
financially since 1987,"
Szilagy said. "We expect to
maintain stability?'
Meanwhile, Sinai is laun-
ching an $11 million capital
improvement plan. Patient
floors are being remodeled;
registration sites are being
added at the Outer Drive en-
trance; the endoscopy suite
has been enlarged and the
rehabilitation wing is
undergoing a major renova-
tion. New radiation therapy
equipment will be purchased.
Also part of the improve-
ment plan, a new, centralized
information system is being
phased into the hospital.
Computers now are
decentralized.
The decentralized system
wastes time for patients, who
repeat basic information for
each department they visit.
For example, a rehabilitation
patient in need of an X-ray
must give insurance and
historical information to
rehabilitation and X-ray staff
because the computers are
not connected. The new
system would eliminate the
duplication.

❑

Dr. Bernie Siegel: "I'm trying to help people learn how to live."

loved well and where it was in-
appropriate to show emotions.
"It's not natural," he said.
"When I ask you how you
are, you automatically say
`fine: But what if you're feel-
ing lousy? If you don't say
that, how can I help you?"
Born and raised in
Brooklyn, Dr. Siegel
graduated with honors from
Cornell, then worked as a
medical resident at Yale
University.
He credits his family with
teaching him about "love and

redirection?' By redirection,
he means taking what ap-
pears to be a negative situa-
tion — anything from missing
a train to contracting a
serious illness — and turning
it into a positive experience.
He calls adverse situations
"spiritual flat tires?'
A patient told Dr. Siegel:
"When I learned I was going
to die I started living."
Diagnosed with cancer, the
man decided he would not die,
and so began doing all the ac-

Continued on Page 12

Teachers At Yeshivath
Will Not Go On Strike

STEVEN M. HARTZ

Special to The Jewish News

chool bells may not be
the only things ring-
ing next Wednesday at
Yeshivath Beth Yehudah as
the first day commences for
students entering nursery
school through 12th grade. So
may the teachers' heads.
Yesterday, their contracts
expired.
"We've been negotiatinng
for several months, and we
are no closer to solving our
situation," said Fred
Goldenberg, the teachers'
negotiator. "We want the
community to know that the
teachers will be in school,
with or without a contract:'
Goldenberg also said the
teachers are adamant about

S

going back to school, and
their main concern is the
education of the children.
Rabbi E.B. Freedman, ad-
ministrative director of
Yeshivath Beth Yehudah, is
optimistic about coming to
terms soon with the teachers.
"Every presumption is we'll
have a new contract by the
first day of school (Sept. 6).
We're not too far apart."
Goldenberg was not as cer-
tain. "We're trying desperate-
ly to reach some kind of
agreement," If we do, wonder-
ful. If we don't, we still intend
to go back to school, working
under the old contract for as
long as possible?'
Goldenberg continued,
"The teachers are going to
negotiate `til death do them
part."

❑

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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