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build, features a kosher kitchen,
an on-staff mashgiach (kosher in-
spector), a sanctuary accented
with Jerusalem stone, a "train-
ing apartment," gift shop, "nosh
nook," and round-the-clock med-
ical care.
"What angers me," said Ms.
Lafer, "is there aren't enough
Jewish homes. There are too
many people who need care."
Despite their satisfaction with
Menorah House, the two women,
both West Bloomfield residents,
wish their loved ones lived clos-
er to them.
Approximately 20 Prentis res-
idents have been relocated to
Menorah House, and 10 more
will move in by the end of the
year, said administrator Dennis
Hayes. There is a waiting list to
get in.
A few more Prentis residents
were moved to the nonkosher
Dorvin Nursing Center in Livo-
nia, which is owned by the Tole-
do-based Health Care &
Retirement Corporation (HCR),
the same company that owns and
will operate the Danto Center.
Forty-three residents at Pren-
tis await placement.
Of the 165 beds at the new
71,000-square-foot nursing and
rehabilitation facility, 20 are set
aside for Alzheimer's patients
and 40 for those requiring post-
hospital, or subacute, care. The
remaining beds are reserved for
private-pay residents who can af-
ford rates of $5,000 to $6,000 per
month. By the end of 1997, Dan-
to admission director Natalie
Rosenfield-Mckee said, 102 beds
will be dedicated to private-pay
residents.
The facility expects to employ
about 200 medical staff. Attend-
ing physicians and the center's
medical director will be drawn
from Sinai Hospital.
Unlike at Menorah House,
none of the personnel will be
union-affiliated, said Danto hu-
man resources director Kevin
Baldwin, but "competitive wages
and working conditions will be
second to none."
Residency rates at the 2-year-
old Menorah House, which is
owned and operated by Medi-
Lodge, are about $3,400 per
month for private-pay residents.
Only 20 of its 211 beds, which are
all Medicaid/Medicare certified,
are occupied by private-pay res-
idents.
The disparity in cost between
the two facilities has raised ques-
tions about the fate of residents
of the 100-bed Prentis Manor and
the future of care for the Jewish
elderly in Detroit.
"We've been concerned about
the effect of people's ability to get
in [to Danto] who don't have un-
limited financial ability," said
Mike Connors, head of Citizens
for Better Care, a nonprofit
watchdog agency of the nursing
care industry. "Because it plans
to have only a small percentage

of beds certified for Medicaid, it
means many Prentis residents
can't afford to go into the home."
Average rates for nursing care
facilities throughout the state —
about 450 — range from $80 to
$110 per day, he said.
Mr. Connors said HCR facili-
ties — 22 of its 128 facilities are
located in Michigan — tend to
have a lower number of Medic-
aid beds than their counterparts.
But that's generally true of new-
er facilities, he acknowledged.
He raised another issue in the
wake of the Prentis closure: The
splitting up of long-term rela-
tionships between residents and
staff, some of whom will go to
Danto.
A more significant issue than
money for some is the quality of
care offered at both facilities.
Menorah House is less expensive
than the Danto center, and it has
been cited by the state for code
and care violations large and
small.
The Jewish Federation of Met-
ropolitan Detroit, which is leas-
ing the Maple Road land to HCR,
has practically taken itself out of
the business of taking care of the
elderly sick. It now operates only
the Fleischman Residence, also
on the West Bloomfield campus.
"The Federation strategy
evolved around our belief that
this sort of service is better de-
livered by firms or individuals
who are experts in the field," said
Mark Davidoff, the Federation's
vice president of finance and ad-
ministration. "Our strategy was
to leverage access for the Jewish
community to high-quality facil-
ities in the right geographic lo-
cations, with the assurance of
high quality and Jewish content."
He pointed out that of all the
nursing care facilities in that
"quadrant" of the county, the
Danto Center is the only one with
Medicaid beds.
And Margo Parr, executive di-
rector of JHA, noted that the
Danto facility and Menorah
House have more beds combined
than Borman Hall and Prentis
Manor did when they were the
only two facilities in town. The
difference is 64 beds.
A new federation agency which
is not yet up and running, the
Commission on JewishEldercare
Services (COJES), will plan
and coordinate all eldercare ser-
vices in the Jewish community
after assessing the needs of the
growing older population, said
Charlotte Dubin, Federation
communications director.
In the meantime, said JHA
president Janice Shatzman, "The
Jewish Home for Aged will con-
tinue to serve the frail elderly
population, within skilled nurs-
ing facilities and assisted living
settings, as well as in their own
homes. We're excited about the
enormous possibilities before us
to serve our older adult popula-
tion." El

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