health & wellness
The
4sw St. Joe's
Experience
Cooking for Life
gib
Local Ayurvedic chef Kate Smith
teaches classes on how to cook
and use food to heal.
Safe, High Quality, Award-Winning Care
Are Hallmarks of SJMO Family Birthing Center
Patient safety and the highest level of
quality care are what women can expect
when they deliver their babies at St. Joseph
Mercy Oakland's (SJMO) Family Birthing
Center.
Ranked by a national quality organization
in the top 5 percent of U.S. hospitals that
excelled in women's health, SJMO also was awarded a five-star rating. "Our
women's services program ensures the safest and best quality care for our female
patients," says William H. Jewell, MD, Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology.
We provide a safe and family-oriented environment for our patients, thanks to
our expert medical staff, and consistently receive recognition for excellence in the
care we offer to our female patients and their babies. New mothers can be assured
that not only will they get the safest, high quality care, but also have an optimal
experience in a supportive, comfortable environment.
National indicators have proven that our processes and procedures meet the
highest levels of patient safety and quality. For example, we have an outstanding
program in Maternal Fetal Medicine, ensuring the survival rates and overall health
of premature babies, and our efforts in this area have helped many at-risk mothers
bring their babies to term.
Collaborating with the Michigan Health and Hospital Association Keystone Center
for Patient Safety and Quality helps us improve outcomes and maintain optimal
levels of patient safety and quality of care in Obstetrics. Our world-class Labor and
Delivery and Mother/Baby units exceed national quality benchmarks for safety and
quality.
• We have developed processes that prevent early elective inductions. This has
been proven to improve the health of the infant and reduce Neonatal Intensive
Care Unit (NICU) admissions.
• Our NICU admissions greater than 37 weeks are at less than 2 percent, far below
national levels.
• Every member of our obstetrical team has completed the National Certification
Corporation Electronic Fetal Monitoring exam. This ensures our medical team's
ability to recognize potential problems early.
Participation in national collaboratives guides our medical staff in improving the
quality and safety of medical care for newborns and their families and helps nurses
in their patient safety and quality improvement efforts.
Throughout the mother-baby experience, our excellence shows through our high
quality and supportive environment. From the beginning of the delivery experience
until it's time to bring the baby home, we provide our patients with the safest, high
quality care expected from a world-class institution.
St. Joe's is Northern Oakland County's hospital of choice. When you're looking
for a place to have your baby, make St. Joe's YOUR hospital of choice.
By
Jack Weiner,
President and CEO
St. Joseph Mercy
Oakland
DISCOVER REMARKABLE
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56 ,anuary 31 • 2013
Ayurvedic chef Kate Smith in her Bingham Farms kitchen beside her masala
dabba, a traditional spice box from India, and some favorite Jewish and
Indian cookbooks.
Lynne Meredith Golodner
Special to the Jewish News
T
he first thing Kate Smith teach-
es in a private Ayurvedic cook-
ing lesson is how to make ghee,
or clarified butter. There is a practice
to it, she says, elevating the experience
beyond mere food prep. Her kitchen is
silent so she can listen to the sound of
butter melting — like the pitter-patter
of rain outside open windows. She lis-
tens for the rain to stop and watches for
the butter to get to a particular golden
hue before straining it into a sterile jar.
This isn't harried cooking to get
dinner on the table. This is the art
of enjoying every minute of life, an
approach that infuses the act of cook-
ing and eating with a more spiritual
posture.
"There is so much stimulation,
electronic and virally, around us and
our families" says Smith. "We come
into this hearth, this womb, and turn
everything off to bring you back to
that place of truth"
Smith, who is teaching a class on
Ayurvedic cooking on Feb. 10 through
Karma Yoga, has "always had a passion
for the experience of cooking:' While
her formal training was through the
New York Restaurant School more
than 25 years ago, she has in recent
years acquired experience in the tradi-
tion of Ayurveda — the Eastern "sci-
ence of life" that sees food as working
toward health (or against it).
Ayurveda is part of yoga, which is
why Karma Yoga owner Katherine
Austin offers Smith's classes through
her studio.
"I opened Karma Yoga 10 years ago
to teach people how to take yoga into
their life says Austin. "This was just a
natural layer, since I've been practicing
Ayurveda for years, to offer it to others
as another tool to bring balance to our
lives:'
Smith grew up on Long Island
and lived with her husband, music
business attorney Rick Smith, in
Manhattan and New Jersey for many
years before moving to Michigan. They
have two sons, Max, 25, and Josh,
22, and are members of Temple Shir
Shalom.
Smith was inspired to enroll in culi-
nary training after making a meal for
the musician John Waite, one of her
husband's clients. "I wanted him to feel
comfortable in our home says Smith,
who made a favorite British meal. The
next day, one guest called to rave about
the meal. "You should be a chef:" she
said.
After receiving her culinary degree,
Smith opened a catering company
on the Upper West Side called Edible
Concepts. She also taught cooking
classes. When her husband's career
brought the family to Michigan, she
worked for local caterers before pursu-
ing a second career in psychotherapy.
While she has a thriving practice
at the Birmingham Maple Clinic,
Cooking For Life on page 58