Publisher's Notebook

A Prescription For Jobs

ne is barely visible from Maple Road, rising like a
grand Up-North lodge overlooking a pond, woodlands
and ... B'nai Moshe synagogue. The other turns heads
along I-96 just off Beck Road with its wide, modern footprint
and accessibility... it is a 15-minute ride from the heart of
Southfield.
While Henry Ford West Bloomfield
Hospital and Providence Park Hospital
in Novi promise to be state-of-the-art
health and wellness facilities that will
serve the general and Jewish communi-
ties when they open in the spring of
2009 and the summer of 2008, respec-
tively, they represent something of
immediate importance: jobs.
In the face of a challenging Michigan
economy, and after decades of state reg-
ulatory maneuvering, Henry Ford West
Bloomfield and Providence Park will be
filling more than 2,000 positions between now and the balance
of 2008, right in our Jewish community's backyard. These posi-
tions will run the gamut, from physicians and nurses to finance
vice presidents and information technology managers; from
pharmacists and administrators to food service workers and
accounting clerks.
What is as breathtaking as the quantity and quality of these
jobs is the desire by both of these institutions to have talented,
diverse workforces. In a nutshell, they want the Jewish commu-
nity to be well represented as employees.
I know what you're thinking. Old
Man Henry Ford is rolling over in
his grave again. And the Daughters
of Charity are scratching their heads
about a hospital without crucifixes as
part of the patient room motif. Yes,
when Henry Ford established his hos-
pital in 1915, he wanted the best physi-
cians in the country ... as long as they
weren't Jewish. Today, Ford has a large
representation of Jewish physicians
and most of the service chiefs at the
existing Henry Ford West Bloomfield
Hospital are Jewish.
Christine Zambricki is the chief
operating officer and chief nursing officer of Henry Ford West
Bloomfield Hospital. She is warm, engaging and committed to
hiring a diverse workforce that is reflective of the community
her hospital serves. She told me she wants five applicants from
diverse backgrounds (including the Jewish community) for
every position posted. She also wants to hire employees with dis-
abilities and special needs.
With a rigorous employee pre-screening process consistent
with the Ritz-Carlton pedigree of its chief executive officer,
Gerard van Grinsven, Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital
claims to want the best of the best. It will be utilizing the pages
of the Jewish News in the coming weeks and months to post
waves of job opportunities as well as its Web site, www.henry-
fordcareers.com .
At Providence Park, President Rob Casalou is mindful of the
unique and growing relationship between his health system
and the Jewish community. Aside from the recent initiatives at

The Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital is under
construction off Maple Road.

Providence Hospital in Southfield to better meet the needs of
the Orthodox and show additional sensitivity to other Jewish
clientele, Casalou's Novi hospital is already benefiting from the
guidance of Rabbi Avrohom Susskind of the Chabad-based
Northville-Novi Jewish Center. Jewish patients will feel welcome
and comfortable in their rooms and Jewish employees will find
a diverse and sensitive work environment. As a very visible
signal to the Jewish community of its intent to meet its needs,
Providence Park selected respected
Jewish community leader Gary
Shiffman to chair its board of trustees.
Like Henry Ford West Bloomfield,
Providence Park is eager to have the
Jewish community well represented as
employees at all levels and will utilize
the Jewish News to post job opportu-
nities. Additionally, it will invite appli-
cations via its Web site, www.stjohn.
org/JobOpenings.
Our Jewish community is blessed to
have an expanding safety net of social
services and financial support for
those who need it. This net has been
stretched because of the scope of the current economic down-
turn. The surest way to strengthen our Jewish community and
our region is through securing jobs for those among us who are
unemployed, underemployed or underutilized ... and to share
these opportunities with family and friends who we would like
to see return to the Detroit area.
We are fortunate to have thousands of jobs being created, right
now and in the coming months, in our backyard by institutions
that want us on their employment rosters. Times do change.

What is as breathtaking as
the quantity and quality of
these jobs is the desire by
both of these institutions
Henry Ford West
Bloomfield and Providence
Park — to have talented,
diverse workforces.

❑

0 :
c i
la
1--
Z z
0 0

Can we as a region parlay our hospital
growth into an economic recovery?

What can the Jewish community do to
further expand the base of new jobs?

271 WEST MAPLE
DOWNTOWN BIRMING
248.258,0212

SUNDAY 12-5
MONDAY—SATURDAY 10-6
THURSDAY 10-8

tenderbirmingham.com

April 3 • 2008

A5