well
Health/Scene
HEALING
Close t_9.
A new cancer center in Farmington Hills brings
state-of-the-art treatment to the northwest suburbs.
-
BILL CARROLL
Special to the Jewish News
W.Wari l er
than half would go to
places in the northern
-'- suburbs.
"The beauty of our
new location is that it
avoids a schlep (long
ride)," Dr. Forman
said. "Yet it won't corn-
promise the treatments
of anyone. We have a
multi-specialty group
of physicians on the
staff, covering brain
Chemotherapy rooms are designed for comfort.
tumors, lung and breast
cancer, and gastrointestinal illnesses, plus the necessary psy-
chological and nutritional counseling.
"Our goal is to change a patient from just being a cancer
victim to being a strong opponent in the fight against the dis-
ease.
his is a good-
news story
about the bat-
tle against can-
cer. It involves three can-
cer survivors, a cancer
fighter and a new place to
continue the battle that all
of humanity is longing to
Treatment rooms at the new Weisberg Center
win.
look
out on the courtyard.
The place is the
Lawrence and Idell
Weisberg Cancer Center on Northwestern Highway, west of
Middlebelt, in Farmington Hills that opened to the public
on Monday, Sept. 17, after an open house for donors Sept.
13. The $10 million, state-of-the-art facility finally brings a
large, modern cancer treatment center to the northern sub-
urbs to make it easier for people in the Jewish community to
Patient-Friendly
With a copper roof and cultured stone exterior, the Weisberg
fight the dreaded disease.
The Weisbergs of West Bloomfield are both cancer sur-
Cancer Center — next to the Rose Imaging Center — has
vivors. She had breast cancer 10 years ago and again two
18,000 square feet with eight examination rooms, seven
years later. He recently completed treatment for prostate can-
chemotherapy treatment rooms, a full-service laboratory, four
patient waiting areas, three doctors' offices, counseling suites,
cer
Because of their successful treatments, they decided to
a large meeting room and library, and employee lounge.
"give something back to the community" and developed the
A $1.7 million linear accelerator machine, used for radia-
Idell
and
The major donors were
idea for the new center.
tion
treatment, was donated by Jim and Eunice Stone of
Lawrence Weisberg.
Enter Irving Laker of Bloomfield Township, also a prostate
Bingham Farms. The
cancer survivor. After the Weisbergs donated $2 million for
radiation oncology section is named
the project, Laker held a breakfast meeting for 90 community leaders to raise
after them, and includes a 5500,000 X-
the rest of the funds. It was the first "parlor" meeting of many at Irving and
ray simulator machine. The Robert
Beverly Laker's new home.
Grow Estate contributed 51.5 million
Benefiting from the concern and generosity of the Weisbergs and the Lakers is
for the gardens and landscaping sur-
Dr. Jeffery Forman of West Bloomfield, a radiation oncologist who was seeking
rounding the building.
a suburban cancer-treatment center to help the 2,500 people in the Detroit area
The Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of
who are afflicted yearly.
Fame gave $250,000 to establish the
Weisberg and Laker are patients of Dr. Forman, developing professional rela-
Hank Greenberg Memorial Lobby, with
tionships that turned into personal friendships. They took up the doctor's cause
a bust of the famous Detroit Tiger slug-
— to get the word into the community about his cancer-fighting efforts and the
ger similar to his statue at Comerica
need for additional tools and equipment to do the job. The new center provides
Park. The Sinai Guild Chemotherapy
convenient surroundings and a pleasant atmosphere for cancer patients to
Section resulted from a $500,000 gift by
receive treatment with dignity.
the 50-year-old guild, which moved its
"It's a phenomenal facility that's centrally located and gives access to cancer
office into the center.
patients who might not seek proper treatment if they had to travel far from
"A patient will be treated like a mentsh
home," said Dr. Forman. He cited surveys that show people actually won't travel
(gentleman) here," Weisberg pointed
far for treatment — even if their illness is life-threatening.
Dr. Jeffrey Forman stands with the
out. "People won't have to take the long
In a survey of Oakland County residents, only about 5 percent said they
Hank Greenberg sculpture.
drive downtown, go into the bowels of
would go to downtown Detroit or Ann Arbor to get treatment, whereas more
"
9/21
2001
82