Top Man
Transplant
Ostrow earns praise of peers.
Sharing the gift of life.
p
eter Ostrow has won the hearts
of his fellow social workers
who take care of the elderly.
Ostrow is the longtime program
director at the
Dorothy and Peter
Brown Jewish
Community Adult
Day Care Program
in West Bloomfield
and Southfield and
his honors include
the "Social Worker
Peter Ostrow
of the Year" award of
the Geriatric Social
Workers of Southeastern Michigan.
Since June 1998, Ostrow has direct-
ed the Brown program, which allows
older adults with Alzheimer's disease
and related disorders to reach their
highest level of functioning and hide-
pendence in a safe and caring setting.
The program is an award-winning
model providing respite and support
to family caregivers and allows their
loved ones to continue to have a satis-
fying quality of life in their own home.
As program director, he was instru-
mental in the development and launch-
ing of the Southfield site at JVS in 1999
and the West Bloomfield site at Jewish
Senior Life one year later. From its
inception, he started networking and
building cooperative relationships in
the community to ensure that persons
needing day care would be referred
to the program and that additional
funding sources and donations would
provide financial support for all who
needed care regardless of ability to pay.
"Peter has dedicated his career to
enriching the lives of people with
dementia and their family members:'
said Arbi Papaghanian, president of
the Geriatric Social Workers.
"He recruited caring staff and vol-
unteers, helped secure donations and
other funding, partnering with other
agencies to keep the program afford-
able while upholding the dignity of
program participants."
Noted Ostrow,"I think the program's
success has always stood on the foun-
dation of having a very caring and
dedicated staff along with generous
community support in the form of
financial contributions and volunteers
working with program participants —
all increasing awareness of our good
work in the broader community."
❑
T
he founder of a program that
helps patients cope with lifestyle
changes before and after an organ
transplant will be honored at Henry Ford
Hospital's second annual
"Dining with the Masters"
fundraiser.
Elizabeth Rubinstein, a
liver transplant recipient,
envisioned a way to bring
additional resources to
Henry Ford's comprehensive
transplant process through
Elizabeth
the Henry Ford 'Transplant
Rubinstein
Living Community, or
Henry Ford TLC.
Since the program's inception in 2009,
Rubinstein has trained more than 30 trans-
plant recipients and caregivers to serve
as volunteer ambassadors for Henry Ford
TLC. The program helps patients maintain
a positive attitude, encourages exercise and
mentors patients and loved ones throughout
the process.
"After you are transplanted, you simply do
not return to your life prior to transplant:'
says Rubinstein, a resident of Commerce
Township.
"You have a new life, with some restrictions,
lifestyle changes and medications to take
daily. The transplant process and adjustment
can challenge patients and their loved ones:'
Rubinstein will receive the Celebration of
Life Award at the Dining with the Masters
fundraiser 6-11 p.m. Monday, June 21,
at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel, 1114
Washington Boulevard, Detroit. The award
honors a recipient for their contributions to
Henry Ford's organ transplant program.
Guests will have a tableside seat for a five-
course meal prepared by executive chefs from
more than 20 Metro Detroit restaurants.
Proceeds will benefit Henry Ford's trans-
plant program, one of only two multi-organ
transplant centers in Michigan. Since Henry
Ford's first organ transplant in 1968, 4,700
patients have been saved by an organ trans-
plant.
The event will feature a silent auction of
works donated by local artists, including
Douglas Chick, Janet Kelman, Peter Griz,
Monte Nagler and Gilda Snowden. Channel
7 Action News anchor Carolyn Clifford will
emcee the event. Dress attire is cocktail.
Event co-chairs are Suzanne Gilson and
Peggy Goldberg, both of Bloomfield Hills,
and Mary Abouljoud of Grosse Pointe Park.
Tickets are $225 and $425 per person and
can be purchased online at www.henryford.
com/diningwiththemasters .
❑
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