Detroit Teaches Israel About Pain Control PHIL JACOBS EDITOR T Dr. John Finn sees a way to help Israel's problem with pain control. 64;V: hey have learned about medicine together, politics together, agri- culture, science, journalism and civics. Now they're learning how to make dying a less painful experience ... together. Partnership 2000, the Jewish Feder- ation of Metropolitan Detroit's project to link Israel's Central Galilee with De- troit, has taken on the idea of hospice. Here in Detroit, the Hospice of South- eastern Michigan has perhaps the na- tion's only department of Jewish hospice services, directed by Rabbi E.B. Freed- man. The Hospice of Southeastern Michi- gan also has Dr. John W. Finn as its medical director. Dr. Finn held an in- ternship at Sinai Hospital and also par- ticipated in a Readers Digest international fellowship at the Nazareth Hospital in Israel. Last summer, Dr. Motti Lipshitz, the director of the Ha'Emek Medical Cen- ter, a 500-bed regional hospital, visited Detroit and spent a day at the Hospice of Southeastern Michigan. Federation then sent Dr. Finn and Rabbi Freedman on a four-day infor- mation-gathering trip. The team met with doctors, social workers, clergy, ad- ministrators, nurses, pharmacists, psy- chologists, therapists and others. They visited clinics, hospitals, adult day care centers and community cen- ters. They talked with Jews, Christians and Muslims. "This was a people-to-people kind of project," said Rabbi Freedman. "Dr. Finn came back saying that this was the sort of project we needed to be doing." "I consider myself a Christian Zion- ist," said Dr. Finn. "It was a wonder- ful trip we were on, and it was so great to come away feeling we could be help- ful." The trip gave Dr. Finn an opportu- nity to witness Israel's state-managed care system, known as Kupat Cholim, which does not pay for home health care or palliative medicine (pain control) at home. Typically, when an Israeli is in pain, he has to go to a hospital or med- ical center to receive medications. The emergency rooms and hospital beds are clogged with people who just want a way to learn how to manage their pain. Rabbi Freedman said the trip showed lack of personnel in the area of pain con- trol, as well as inadequate supplies of pain control medications. "If the main issue is pain control, then what we saw is a real problem," said Rabbi Freedman. "The Israeli sys- tem under-budgets for palliative care. What we suggested time and time again is that all of this is much bet- ter and easier to control at home." The result of this Partnership -2000 visit is a two-year pilot demonstration project. Dr. Finn and Rabbi Freedman g have asked Partnership 2000 to fund a - doctor, a nurse, a social worker/psy- chotherapist and a community rela- tions/clergy coordinator in Israel. That team would probably come to Detroit to study the Hospice of Southeastern Michigan's system. Rabbi Freedman and Dr. Finn would return to Israel with the team for a short visit. Besides setting up a hospice team, the two-year plan for Central Galilee would also include the treatment of some 50 patients at any given time; the service of up to 400 patients per year; the promotion of the concepts of corn- passionate care for the terminally ill; and the creation of a multicultural hos- pice service for Christians, Muslims and Jews, drawing on the diversity of the Detroit area to help break down barri- ers in the Partnership 2000 region. The cost of the project is estimated to be about $250,000. It is anticipated that Kupat Cholim and Ha'Emek Medical Center will fund the hospice after the first two years. There are 11 hospices in Israel, ac- cording to Rabbi Freedman. But, the rabbi added, the hospice system seems to be based on an old system of care. "I think Dr. Finn benefited from un- derstanding the relationships between Jews and Christians and Muslims in Is- rael," said Rabbi Freedman. "He really got to understand the area." ❑ "*"'i", • • WE'LL KEEP YOU SMILING IN FEBRUARY! At; Maymogil laik44,604oe 1401:11gS vs ,4'111;11c!a-G- ' GUND. ambi toys DOLL & BEAR LOVERS SAVE 10%40% On A Nice Selection • Madame Alexander • Corolle • Effanbee • Steiff • Gund & More! Sale Extended thru 3/1/97 Due to Overwhelming Response! S.E. Corner of Farmington & Grand River Inside The Village Mall • (810) 471-2908 YOU NAME IT SALE! 20% OFF On Any One In Stock Item of Your Choice thru 3/1/97 • Dolls/Bears/Beanie Babies Not Included. • One Item Per Person Per Day • Cannot Be Combined W/Any Other Discount. • No Layaways. THE DOLL HOSPITAL 8C To SOLDIER SHOP 3947 W. 12 Mile Rd. • Berkley • 810-543-3115 (696 Exit Greenfield, N. to 12 Mi., 3 Blks. E. of Greenfield) Hours: M-Sat: 10-5:30, Fri: 10-8 ORIENTAL RUGS • We buy them, sell them, appraise them, clean them repair them and love them! In-Home & Office Carpet Cleaning (810) 399-2323 44 ( I OAK PARK OUTLET BIRMINGHAM ANN ARBOR • (810) 546-RUGS • (810) 646-RUGS • (313)973-RUGS ANTIQUE MALL Your Complete Antique Resource S.E. Michigan's Largest The place to go when you are looking for real antiques. 10% Discount on Antique Reference Books and Price Guides. Open 7 Days 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed. 'til 8 p.m. (810) 344-7200 42305 W. Seven Mile Rd., Northville 2 Miles W. of 1-275, Exit 11169