he said, "and my personal physician
was there everyday too. If he had a
complaint, they'd take care of it.
"I also liked the fact that it was
such a clean facility," he continued.
"It's very modern and makes you feel
comfortable. I really didn't have any-
thing to complain about."
Barbara Goldsmith, 73, of
Farmington Hills, who had spinal
surgery there last year, was asked what
it was like to be Jewish at Beaumont.
"I never really gave it any thought."
she said. "I didn't run into a lot of
Jewish people there, but it felt like a
comfortable place to be Jewish. I don't
need kosher food, but I did tell them I
don't eat any pork products.
Jennifer Mauler, 30, of Bloomfield
Hills, gave birth to her son, Morgan,
at Beaumont last year. But months
before the birth, she went into pre-
term labor and had to spend a few
days at Beaumont on bed rest.
"They were great," she said of the
doctors and nurses who helped stabi-
lize her so that she could carry the
baby to term. "I knew when I went in
to deliver, I'd be in good hands."
Although most patients said they
picked Beaumont because of its loca-
tion or because their physician sent
them there, Mattler said she picked

Beaumont staffer Joan Drake registers Ryan Blank, of Bloomfield Hills, while Ryan's
parents Ron and Kathy Blank look on.

Beaumont before choosing a doctor.
"I wanted to be at Beaumont or
Sinai because they're known for their
pre-natal care units and Beaumont
was a lot closer than Sinai," she said.
Beaumont had 5,832 births last
year, and its labor and delivery rooms
have large windows, cheery pink wall-
paper, hardwood floors and private
bathrooms with showers. The medical
equipment in the rooms is tucked dis-
creetly behind picture frames and light
fixtures, so that most of the time the
rooms look more like large bedrooms

than hospital wards. Sinai's labor and
delivery rooms are considerably small-
er and darker, without private baths,
one of the factors in the DMC's deci-
sion to relocate services to Grace,
where labor and delivery rooms are
comparable to Beaumont's.
Many patients who chose
Beaumont said they were nonetheless
sad to see Sinai close, but viewed it as
an institution that has perhaps out-
lived its usefulness in the Jewish corn-
munity.
"It's like if the Jewish Community

orJewish Chaplain
Lia Wiss, working at
Beaumont has been
something of a home-

coming.
Although she grew up in
Oak Park, she spent most of her
adult years in Ann Arbor as a
private caterer. But as her inter-
est in spiritual matters grew and
she began leading prayer meet-
ings through Temple Beth
Emeth, the Ann Arbor
Reconstructionist Havurah and
a Jewish renewal group, she
Above left to right: Lia Wiss visits patient Judith Wegener of Farmington Hills, speaks with
longed for a career that was
Dr. Ed Cohn and delivers electric Shabbat candles.
more nourishing.
"My heart went beyond the
who she feels respond better to a
friends, or connected somehow to her
palatable pleasures in life and into
landsman.
Oak Park days. Some of the older
nourishing the soul," she said.
"When were sick, we want fami-
patients call her a "nice Jewish girl,"
Five years ago, she began a master's
ly," she said. And if you don't have
although she is 47 and a mother of
degree program in pastoral care at
family, the next best thing is a Jewish
two.
Detroit's Marygrove College, and did
person."
Wiss spends 20 hours a week at
her clinical training at Beaumont.
In addition to praying, her typi-
Beaumont, more than the hospital's
When she graduated, Beaumont
cal day can include Jewish geogra-
three rabbis who balance their chap-
offered her a job, and although she
phy conversations (things like "Did
laincies with congregational responsi-
still lives in Ann Arbor, Wiss drives
you go to school with my niece?"),
bilities.
an hour each way to Royal Oak three
listening to old stories, reading
Originally hired to tend to a
days a week because "there's a real
psalms, humming traditional Jewish
floor with people of all religions,
honoring of patients here."
melodies and even comforting
Wiss asked to spend a large amount
Many of the patients she visits are
patients who feel guilty over the
of her time with Jewish patients,

Center closed and turned into a
YMCA," said Roisman. "I feel bad
that that's gone, but many of the
Jewish doctors changed affiliations.
You want to go where your doctor's
affiliated and where your insurance
covers you, and when you're sick you
want the best possible facility. When a
facility loses its reputation, why would
you want to go there?"
"I'm very sad that Sinai's going to
be closing, and I haven't broken the
news to my grandmother yet" said
Helene Kauffman-Maly, 41, who has
had several benign tumors removed at
Beaumont, but also goes to Sinai occa-
sionally. "It was a nice feeling walking
through Sinai, but in this day and age
you go where your doctor goes."

Making The Rounds

Like their patients, Beaumont's Jewish
physicians are enthusiastic about the
hospital.
Hospitals cannot legally keep
records on the religion and ethnicity
of employees, but Jewish doctors esti-
mate that of Beaumont's 1,200 physi-
cians, about 20 percent are Jewish.
Few Jews are on the board or adminis-
tration, however.
"Twenty people I graduated from
HOSPITAL continued on page 17

shrimp they ate two years
ago. "I tell them God doesn't
hold a grudge," she said.
Despite her spiritual lean-
ings and respect for the rabbis
with whom she works, Win.
has no interest in becoming a
rabbi herself
"I think I'm called to be a
friend, who has more time.
Rabbis are really busy, and I
like pulling up a chair and
not having to meet the
demands of a congregation."
Wiss has been there for
people in their final minutes
and has sat with bodies and
read psalms until the funeral
home picked them up.
"You need to explain why you're
doing that, that you don't leave a
body unattended," said Wiss.
Although Beaumont staff are
sometimes unfamiliar with Jewish
traditions, Wiss said they are eager
to learn. "There's a lot of curiosity
about Judaism and other cultures,"
she said. "Nurses have asked me for
articles so they can learn more
about Jewish mourning." IT
— Julie Wiener

3/1

Detroit Jewish News

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