What City Can Offer More than Detroit When it Comes to Medicine?
Why Drive All the Way to Rochester Minnesota?
Friday, November 18th, 2022 at 1:55 PM
Detroit Community Health Connection, Inc.
Riverside Clinic
Detroit Michigan
I'm a fifty-nine year old man. I've lived with rheumatoid arthritis since the age of forty-four. I've been in treatment. I've been out of treatment. I've participated in a study to control RA with diet alone. It worked to a certain degree. I have returned to a diet with meat and dairy. Meat and dairy can cause RA flare ups. Right now, I'm out of treatment and I have been out of treatment for three years this November. I'm hoping to get back into treatment as quickly as possible. I'm putting my trust in Detroit Medicine. Detroit's a good town to get my medicine right.
Detroit has some incredible options for medical treatment. We have at least three medical schools active in the city: Wayne State and Michigan State and the University of Michigan. The Henry Ford Hospital, as my mother told me so many years ago, takes up an entire city block. The Detroit Medical Center occupies an immense footprint south of the Cultural Center. Ascension Saint John Hospital stands strong at the gateway of the city at Mack and Moross. Beaumont Hospital doubled, maybe tripled its influence by joining with Spectrum out of Grand Rapids.
That's why I am puzzled when I see people who somehow fell out of the system of care. The bus system conveys people from many walks of life. Why, why, why are so many of the people on the bus wheeling wheelchairs, using canes or pushing walkers? It just doesn't make sense. We have the medicine. Why doesn't Detroit's sophisticated medical community reach the people of the city effectively and equally?
The medical establishment works pretty hard to show the way to the open door. Last October, the Men's Health Foundation rented the entire Ford Field Stadium and invited every man and the people who love them for a field day with blood tests, doctor consultations and even free haircuts and a free lunch. I found the idea of doing a blood draw in the biggest indoor stadium in Michigan intimidating, but I enjoyed the lectures. I enjoyed talking to medical people tabling along the concourse. I didn’t make it down to the grassy gridiron to try a little Yoga, but there was something for everyone.
I remember a trip to Rochester, Minnesota, home of the Mayo Clinic. I marveled how the city had adapted to the clinic, creating dining and housing options for patients making the pilgrimage to the famous medical destination. If Detroit has world class care, how do we invite the world to come and heal? I notice that the city has begun the transition. The city offers a location of the Ronald McDonald house. The city also hosts a location of Gilda’s House. How else can we make Detroit the equal of Rochester, Minnesota?
