health & wellness »
Lighthouse
For Hope
Hadassah shares
promising new
stem cell research.
Erez Meltzer
Ruthan Brodsky | Contributing Writer
St. Joe Center Offers Help and
Hope for People with Chronic Wounds
By Jack Weiner,
President and CEO
St. Joseph Mercy
Oakland
Since its opening in 2012, St. Joseph Mercy
Oakland's (SJMO) Center for Wound Care and
Hyperbaric Medicine has improved the quality
of life for hundreds of patients with non-
healing wounds.
And it has added more services and products
to encourage healing, such as artificial skin substitutes and total contact casting for diabetic
foot ulcers.
Located in the Alice Gustafson Center on campus, the state-of-the-
art facility treats patients with chronic wounds using advanced equipment,
including two hyperbaric chambers, making St. Joe's wound care center one of
the most convenient, comprehensive and sophisticated wound treatment facilities in
Southeastern Michigan.
We opened the Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine to provide our patients
with the safest, highest quality and comprehensive care possible in the area of wound
treatment. With state-of-the-art, specialized, technologically advanced and evidence-
based therapies utilizing the latest techniques and procedures, SJMO can restore a
patient's quality of life by reducing healing time and fostering full recovery
We are privileged to have Firas Karmo,
MD, plastic surgeon from the SJMO Medical
Staff, as medical director of the facility, which
employs physicians specialty-trained in wound
management and hyperbaric medicine, certified
or specialty-trained wound care nurses and highly
trained clinical hyperbaric managers and staff.
The center takes a whole body approach to wound healing, including
t Nutritional assessment and counseling
t Diabetic education
t Patient and caregiver counseling
t Referrals for special needs pressure relief, including beds, seat cushions and footwear.
Among the conditions treated at the center are:
t Diabetic wounds
t Any non-healing wound
t Surgical wounds that have opened
t Skin grafts or surgical flaps that are not healing post-surgery
t Open wounds caused by radiation therapy
t Bond infections
t Pressure ulcers
t Venous wounds
t Internal injuries where no open wound exists, such as select acute traumatic and crush
injuries, radiation cystitis or proctitis and reconstruction of the jaw or bone.
The hyperbaric chambers provide a more advanced treatment option for those who
qualify. Hyperbaric treatments work in combination with traditional wound care treatments.
Oftentimes, the hyperbaric treatment is the only one available for a particular condition.
Ask your physician for a referral if your condition can benefit from our Center for Wound
Care and Hyperbaric Medicine. If you have a wound that won’t heal,
call the Center for Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine
at 248-858-2606.
Firas Karmo,
MD
2064320
54 April 28 • 2016
E
rez Meltzer, chairman of
Hadassah Medical Organization
(HMO), Israel, spoke at an
informal breakfast at Henry Ford West
Bloomfield Hospital March 30. His
topic focused on new research and
treatments developed by HMO using a
patient’s own stem cells. Over 40 people,
primarily HFH physicians and staff and
Hadassah members attended.
Betty Chu, M.D. M.B.A., chief medi-
cal officer at Henry Ford WB, touted
Meltzer’s achievements as a highly suc-
cessful business leader and his teaching
efforts as a professor of management
and crisis intervention. Chu and her hus-
band, Novot Shoresh, and children are
active members at Temple Shir Shalom
in West Bloomfield.
“My husband is an Israeli, and every
two years we revisit Israel,” Chu says.
“Hadassah Hospital, founded by women,
resonated with me because its health
care is based on relationships, and
patients are cared for regardless of their
politics.”
Meltzer’s appointment as chairman
of HMO was approved in late 2014.
His mission is to lead the effort for the
organization’s financial recovery as
agreed upon by the Women’s Zionist
Organization of America, HMO and the
government of Israel. Understanding
the challenges of the complicated Israeli
health system and the complex demo-
graphics of the country, Melzer agreed to
become chairperson of the HMO Board.
“At one time, hospitals focused on
disease when treating patients,” explains
Meltzer. “Today, Hadassah’s goal is to
focus on the patient’s experience by
treating the whole patient including par-
ticipating family members.”
Meltzer describes the Hadassah
Medical Organization as a bridge for
peace, a lighthouse for hope and a sym-
bol for Israel’s existence.
HMO is the largest employer in
Jerusalem,” Meltzer says. “Israel is grow-
ing and is expected to reach 22 million
by the end of the century. We need
medical institutions that can treat dis-
ease and care for the injured. To accom-
modate our future, we continue to bring
in physicians and technicians to live in
Jerusalem while working to maintain a
coexistence and balance with the city’s
diverse populations.”
According to Meltzer, Hadassah
Hospital is uniquely positioned to do
research and clinical trials. Its produc-
tion of therapeutic treatments provides
research teams with the ability to devel-
op breakthrough products for patient
care in addition to commercializing
these treatments and selling the resulting
products.
STEM CELL RESEARCH
Meltzer explains that Israel moved for-
ward with stem cell research over the
past 25-30 years while other countries,
including the U.S., were held back by
regulations. As a result, HMO developed
a method for harvesting and growing
a large quantity of a patient’s own stem
cells that are re-injected into patients as
treatment for serious health issues.
Meltzer briefly described several
ongoing research projects taking place at
HMO using a patient’s own stem cells to
treat diseases such as ALS, multiple scle-
rosis, age-related macular degeneration,
Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases as
part of what is often labeled regenerative
medicine.
“The future trends of medical research
and treatment are likely to result in more
personalized medicine, tailored to indi-
viduals,” Meltzer says. “The consequence
of employing increased applications of
regenerative medicine using stem cells
will trend to a system of case manage-
ment as opposed to disease manage-
ment. In addition, the impact of digital
medical research, speeding the process
to collect data, will give patients earlier
access to the positive results developing
in today’s medical research.”
Attendee Debbie Robbins of West
Bloomfield says, “I am amazed at the
medical research advances Hadassah
Hospital has made and will report on
what I learned this morning to the next
board meeting of our Tikvah Chapter.
I have a personal interest in the cystic
fibrosis research.”
Carol Ogusky of Sylvan Lake, presi-
dent of Hadassah Greater Detroit, adds,
“It is inspiring to learn how HMO
enhances Israel’s economy and builds
bridges for peace by providing medical
care to patients regardless of race, reli-
gion or nationality.”
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