Detroit
Independent Guild
The Sinai Guild plans to ensure a Jewish presence
at the hospital.
PHIL JACOBS EDITOR
T
hey push book carts from
hospital room to room.
They work with new
Americans, helping trans-
late their problems into solutions.
They fund-raise.
For 45 years, the Sinai Hospi-
tal Guild has provided the volun-
teer services necessary for the
facility to succeed. Making it dif-
ferent from other hospital auxil-
iaries is the Jewish component.
Now that Sinai Hospital is part
of the Detroit Medical Center,
Guild president Sandy Schwartz
says her volunteer group of 3,000
members, including 850 lifetime
members, has a more critical role
— making sure that all the talk of
keeping a Jewish presence and in-
fluence really happens.
Prior to Sinai's affiliation with
DMC, Ms. Schwartz said Sinai's
Jewish roots were taken for grant-
ed. It was there because Sinai was
a Jewish hospital. Now, she sees
the Guild working harder to keep
Jewish services in the forefront of
patient care and identity at both
.
the Outer Drive and Huron Val-
ley facilities.
For starters, the Guild is in the
process of breaking away from the
Sinai Health Care Foundation
and gaining its own nonprofit
5013C status. It is soon to become
an independent organization, con-
trolling $1.6 million in assets and
endowments.
"My hope is that we take on
the commitment and the concept
of the Jewish hospital," said Ms.
Schwartz. "We will be cheer-
leaders, trying to get the mes-
sage out to the community to
keep this hospital Jewish.
"I am, though, hitting a brick
wall any place I go. People are
asking me why we still need a
Jewish hospital. I think we sold
our community short over the
years."
Ms. Schwartz said that the
DMC is "courting" the Guild,
hoping that it will help maintain
and build a level of Jewish pres-
ence at Sinai and Huron Valley.
Sinai's Guild provides volunteer
services, outreach to youth pro-
grams and community educa-
tion programs. It raises money
through operation of the gift
shop, the Arch of Friends en-
dowment fund, tribute funds,
membership dues, sales of infant
photos and baby bracelets. Guild
volunteers also work in Sinai's
satellite facilities.
"This could be a wonderful
point to take off from," said Ms.
Schwartz, "if we can do the
things that need to be done. A
lot of our issues are public rela-
tions issues. It's important that
we remain a link between the
community and the hospital.
"I don't see why our commu-
nity would want to throw away
this jewel (Sinai). DMC is pre-
pared to have a Jewish hospital.
Our challenge now is that the -
community is so assimilated, we
don't understand sometimes the
health issues of the Orthodox
and the Russians and others."
Ms. Schwartz said the Guild
will be meeting with the auxil-
iary of Huron Valley to talk
about shared roles.
For now, Sinai and its Guild
are working to maintain the
Guild's presence as part of DMC.
Each of the DMC's hospitals has
its own guild or auxiliary. Sinai's
Guild would not become part of
Sandy Schwartz:
an umbrella group. ❑
Big role for the Guild.
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