Far Left: Jacob Hartman looks forward to services in the new sanctuary.
Left: Faye Goldstein occupies new quarters.
Above: Scott Aaronson and Norman Richman befriend.
Finkelstein recalls afternoons at the New
Orleans ball park with his Uncle Sam,
whose penchant for baseball almost
redeemed his gambling fetish.
"I kept an eye on him," Mr. Finkelstein
says.
Still thinking, he recites the old
Pelican's cheer:
A funny bird is the Pelican
His eyes can hold more than his belly
can.
Food enough for a week
He can store in his beak
But I don't see how in the hell-he-can.
The ambulance stops at the side en-
trance of Menorah House. The EMS crew
rings the bell, but no one answers for
about five minutes. An EMS worker tucks
Mr. Finkelstein's coat tightly around his
body. Finally, an attendant opens the
nursing home door and issues a cheerful
welcome.
Nurses aides quickly prepare Mr.
Finkelstein's unmade bed in Room 228.
He is quiet, a bit flushed from the trip.
Ruth Aaronson, a social worker, rushes
in to say hello.
Mr. Finkelstein's sisters, Yetta Wolf
and Rose Dembs, enter to welcome him
home.
"A move of any type is a traumatic
experience," Ms. Wolf says. "With some-
one who's ill, it's much harder to handle."
Although Ms. Wolf was happy with
Borman Hall, she is comfortable with her
brother's move to Menorah House. She
likes the fact that he'll see familiar faces
of other former Borman residents. In fact,
Mr. Finkelstein's old roommate, William
Rosen, remains with him at Menorah
House.
Ms. Wolf says her hopes are high.
"What I particularly like was that when
my brother told the nurse what he needed,
he was listened to," she says. "That doesn't
always happen. Sometimes we have a
tendency to ignore people who are
disabled or elderly. Hopefully, this will
work out."
threatened to close the facility.
Over five years, the Jewish community
allocated more than $15 million to the
JHA. Most of the money went to help
Borman Hall clean up its act. (The rest
funded Prentis Manor in Southfield and
Sparking Menorah
Fleischman Residence in West Bloom-
field, two other homes for aged affiliated
Menorah House stands as the Jewish with JHA.)
community's answer to troubles at the old
Though Borman's state inspection
Borman Hall.
results improved toward the end of 1993,
Built 28 years ago as a home for aged, the Jewish Federation decided that the
Borman Hall evolved as a facility for the 212-bed facility was too costly. This fall,
frail Jewish elderly. As its population grew Federation and the United Jewish Foun-
older, demands for acute medical care in- dation, which owned the property, sold
creased and so did costs.
Borman Hall to the Heartland Group, a
Unable to keep pace with stiffening fed- nursing home company based in North
eral regulatory standards, the Jewish Carolina.
Home for Aged (which operated Borman
Federation officials will not discuss the
Hall) struggled to improve operations after purchase price.
the Michigan Department of Public
Since early November, Federation and
Health put a ban on admissions and the JHA have helped Jewish residents