THE JEWISH NEWS

SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS

SERVING DETROIT'S JEWISH COMMUNITY

DECEMBER 28, 1990 / 11 TEVET 5751

Sinai Hospital Boosts In-Patient Tally

A one-week upsurge cheers
those fighting merger or closure.

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Staff Writer

S

inai Hospital this past
week filled between
400 and 420 beds each
night, a record-breaking fig-
ure for the 38-year-old facili-
ty that has been losing an
average of $1 million a mon-
th.
In the past few years, the
facility has admitted about
350 patients each night to its
620-bed facility. Tradi-
tionally, that count
decreases during the holiday
season.
Hospital administrators
declined to comment on the
unusually high patient tally.
But observers said the unex-
pected jump is a direct re-
sponse to a massive public
relations campaign
spearheaded two weeks ago
by a group of doctors rally-
ing to save their hospital.
Doctors want to keep the
hospital alive and in Jewish
hands in the midst of

speculation that a merger
with the Detroit Medical
Center could result in
department cuts or closing of
the facility in as early as two
months.
"Merger means closure,"
said Dr. Gerald Loomus,
spokesman for the doctor's
coalition. "We are trying to
prevent immediate closure. I
think it can work. The ad-
ministration has to stop
talking about merging and
start worrying about inter-
nal matters.
"The physicians are trying
in a last desperate effort to
say we want a change," Dr.
Loomus said. "We are trying
to recapture our public."
The physicians campaign
prompted a meeting last
week between doctors and
the board of the Jewish Wel-
fare Federation. Federation
President Mark Schlussel
said the Federation "was
clearly persuaded not to
close or sell."
The Jewish community
was instrumental in laun-

thing Sinai. It was the suc-
cessor to the North End
Clinic, founded with a
$75,000 gift in the late
1920s.
Each year, the Federation
grants $150,000 to the
hospital. According to its
bylaws, Sinai is infused with
Federation leadership. If the
hospital closes, assets are
supposed to be returned to
the Jewish community.
"As a Federation, we are
going to leave no stone un-
turned to support Sinai's
board," Mr. Schlussel said.
Like other independently
run hospitals in
southeastern Michigan,
Sinai has been losing money
since the mid-1980s. In addi-
tion to a low bed count, Sinai
has reduced revenues be-
cause government and pri-
vate insurance carriers have
cut hospital reimbursement
rates.
The doctors are speaking
up: Without a Jewish-
sponsored hospital, the
community will lose a major
voice, they say. If doctors can
secure support in the form of
increased patient load, they
can beat the odds and the
Jewish community can con-

Neighborhood Project
Expands In Southfield

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Staff Writer

T

he Neighborhood Pro-
ject, a Jewish Welfare
Federation undertak-
ing launched four years ago
to revitalize the Jewish
neighborhoods of Oak Park
and Southfield, is expanding
into the Birmingham school
district.
At a meeting of its ad-
visory committee this mon-
th, members voted to open
the boundaries to buyers
who purchase homes in the
northern part of Cranbrook
Village and other neighbor-
hoods in Southfield between
Greenfield and Evergreen,
north to 13 Mile Road.
Previously, loans were
granted anywhere in Oak
Park, but limited to a three-
square mile area of
Southfield. Before its expan-
sion, boundaries included

some areas north of the
Lodge Freeway, mostly in
the Beacon Square and
Mount Vernon subdivisions,
and anything between Mt.
Vernon and Webster west of
Greenfield and east of Tele-
graph.
Some of those living north
of 12 Mile attend the Birm-
ingham Public Schools. The
committee also opted to in-
crease the cap on loans for
buyers in Southfield from
$6,000 to $8,000.
Started by the Federation
with the assistance of Heb-
rew Free Loan Association,
the Neighborhood Project
provides incentive loans to
Jewish families moving into
certain areas of Oak Park
and Southfield.
Federation initially ear-
marked $250,000 in loans
for the project. And today, a
revolving fund contains
about $1.76 million. This
has enabled project coor-

dinators to dish out 369 mat-
ching loans in the two cities
—with the average loan be-
ing $4,760.
"This is better than
anything we had ever envi-
sioned," said project director
Rhoda Raderman.
To date, 40 percent of the
homebuyers have moved to
Southfield, 60 percent to
Oak Park. Forty-two percent
say they are Conservative,
26 percent Reform and 29
percent Orthodox.
In the last year, 81 loans
were granted — 32 percent,
or 26 families, in Southfield
and 68 percent, or 55
families, in Oak Park. Ad-
visory board members hope
that broadening Southfield's
base will show a firm sense
of responsibility to that area.
Project and Federation of-
ficials say their attachment
to Southfield is evident.

Continued on Page 26

tinue to provide health care
to the public.
Now, in its second attempt
to merge with a larger
health care facility — Sinai
and Henry Ford Health Care
Corp. called off negotiations
last summer — many are
questioning whether a need

still exists for a Jewish-
sponsored hospital.
Many people within the
community no longer see a
need for the hospital. Doc-
tors, they said, can practice
anywhere. They said Sinai is •
far from the Jewish corn-
Continued on Page 10

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