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 ADVERTISEMENT 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