Community

Life's Journeys

A message from Dottie Deremo,
President/CEO, Hospice of Michigan

Dr. Finn blends compassion
with hope for dying patients

I

t's fair to say that only very
special people would affiliate
with an organization like
Hospice of Michigan. Compassion
may be the essential credential.
And while that quality served noted
humanitarians, such as Albert
Schweitzer and Mother Theresa, this
compassion must be accompanied
by specialized knowledge of pain
management and all the issues
related to end-of-life care.
We have such a specialist at
Hospice of Michigan — Dr. John
Finn, our executive medical director.
He is known to many members of
the Detroit Jewish community for
what he calls his "Jewish roots."
He trained at Sinai Hospital with
the late Dr. Arnold Axelrod. He has
visited Israel twice as part of the
Partnership 2000 mission and
helped establish the Milton & Lois
Shiffman Israel Hospice Project in
Galilee.
Dr. Finn's affiliation with
Hospice of Michigan began 15
years ago, when he became one of
the first full-time medical directors
at a hospice in Michigan. He was
only four years out of. Wayne State
University's Medical School. At that
time, advisors told him he would
be throwing his career away if he
went into hospice medicine. But he
was passionate about wanting to
ease this part of life's journey for
his patients.
Since then, he has become a
nationally recognized expert on
palliative care: the control and
management of pain caused by
incurable illness. This month, he
takes on the esteemed role of
president of the American Academy

of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
Dr. Finn is often asked how his
commitment to palliative medicine
began. He explains that during his
fellowship in oncology, he had
observed too many instances when
patients had died alone in an emer-
gency room or intensive care unit,
attached to machines. From his
vantage, "dying well" means a
patient is given hope. The hope is
not for a cure, because cures do
not always exist. The hope is that
this final, inevitable journey will be
made easier. How can this be?
The most common scenario for
most of our patients has been cura-
tive care (treatment) followed by a
brief period of hospice care when
the end was near and no further
treatment was indicated. But Dr.
Finn believes curative and hospice
treatment should be paired on the
health care continuum, so that
patients and their family members
receive the comfort and support
they need in the final months or
years of life, not just days.

He is currently involved in a
three-year study with the University of
Michigan, which combines curative
treatment with hospice interventions.
In the study, patients diagnosed as
terminally ill can receive the services
of Hospice of Michigan along with
radiation, chemotherapy or other
appropriate medical treatments. Dr.
Finn and his colleagues believe that
the quality of life for these patients
will improve because of the earlier
psychological and spiritual support
from hospice. The results of the
study might change the accepted
course of care for terminally ill
cancer patients.
Dr. Finn believes it is imperative
to offer hope to patients. He often
quotes the work of the eminent
psychotherapist and Holocaust sur-
vivor, Dr. Viktor E. Frankl, whose
hook, Man's Search for Meaning,
describes how concentration camp
inmates often died after losing hope.
"People think hospice equates
cancer and death," he says. "But
really, hospice is about living and
regaining control. It's about hope.
Hope that one will experience
another holiday at home, another
winter sunset or the birth of a
grandchild."
Of course, hospice is not just for
cancer patients. At Hospice of
Michigan, we care for patients with
any terminal illness, regardless of
diagnosis.
Dr. Finn expresses our philosophy
at Hospice of Michigan. It is
embraced by each of the special,
compassionate members of our
staff. To learn more about our
Jewish Hospice Program, please call
Bobbie Blitz at 248-966-8262.

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Murray Goldenberg

Registration Opens
For Day Camps

Registration is open for ,the Jewish
Community.Center'summer tfay
camps for the 2001 season.
Brochures are available by calling
the camp office, (248) 661-1010.
New options in the= camp sched-
ule will include the Maccabi Pro-
Sports Camp for first to eighth-
graders, which will have in-line
skating at the InLine Hockey
Center, girls volleyball, pompon
camp and gold medal swimming.
Imagivity camps will focus on
science and the arts.
Teen Travel Camp will have daily
field trips and will give campers
opportunities to perform communi-
ty service.
Teva Trek, an outdoors wilderness
camp, will offer hiking, kayaking
and related activities.
Camp JCC will provide tradi-
tional camping activities in addition
to a Shabbat experience weekly,
Israeli theme days, Jewish songs and
Jewish culture. It is open to children
from pre-school age to fourth grade.
Parents who register children
before March 3 will be eligible for
the priority rate and will receive a
savings on camp tuition. Camp
begins June 18; programs are held
on both JCC campuses. Door-to-
door bus transportation is available
from most areas.
For registration information or a
brochure, call the camp office,
(248) 661-1010.

Kindergarten
Open House Set

The Sarah and Irving Pitt Child
Development Center at the
Jewish Community Center will
have a kindergarten open house
6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 10, at
the JCC in West Bloomfield.
Guests will meet the teacher,
review the curriculum and take
a tour of the facilities.
The Pitt Child Development
Center also has programs for
infants and toddlers, summer
day camp and school-break
activities.
Reservations for the open
house are required; call the Pitt
•
Center, (248) 661-7605.

