[Inaudible].
Hi, I'm Dana Jay, and this is Henry Ford health system news.
We bring you stories from across Henry Ford about how our team members are
making a difference in the lives of our patients, our community, and each other.
Today, we start with a story about two research coordinators who are using their
expertise to help build a COVID bank.
Thousands of samples collected from patients with COVID-19 are in cold storage
here at Henry Ford Hospital gathered since the height of the outbreak.
Research coordinators,
Bart Thomas and Cunli Xiang have been processing the samples so that they can be
stored for future research. The goal:
safely collect as many as possible from patients willing to donate to the
research effort.
Our target with not knowing as much as we possibly could about COVID would
be to safely collect as much body fluids as we possibly can.
That includes blood urine, saliva, and more,
the more they collect and store,
the more researchers have to work with as they study how the virus affects the
body and search for treatments.
COVID-19 blood bank is a very important, very necessary.
Bart and Cunli have experience building an important tissue bank.
They've been redeployed to the Translational and Clinical Research Center from
Henry Ford's Hermelin Brain Center,
where they keep one of the largest brain tumor banks in the world.
We had a slow down in some of our activities,
but the TCRC knows that we have very good procedures in terms of collecting
biomarkers and fluids.
And we were able to use the protocols that we have in the Hermelin Brain Tumor
Center and translate those to the TCRC to collect blood and collect tissue
and collect biomarkers.
Bart and Cunli say safety is always top of mind because they know how
serious COVID is.
It's a little bit, it's not a little bit concerning, very concerning,
very concerning, you know.
But they also know how important their work is.
So far the COVID bank has been used in five studies and research is ongoing.
We have this responsibility to stand up to do something.
There is a team of scientists working on the COVID bank.
But when we set out to tell this story,
the manager of the TCRC thought Bart and Coonley would make excellent
representatives because of the energy and professionalism that they bring to the
team.
The Henry Ford mobile unit is on the go visiting local churches to spread the
word about flu shots.
Henry Ford has teamed up with the council of Baptist pastors of Detroit and
Vicinity and PACE Southeast Michigan to make it easier for people to get
vaccinated.
Bishop Andrew Merritt of Strait Gate International Church in Detroit tells us he
wants his congregation to see him practice what he preaches.
I just don't want to be their speaker to them.
I want them to have confidence in me,
and I want them to know that they can have confidence in
medical science.
When we did our pop-up flu clinic on this past weekend,
we had people literally say they had never had a flu shot before,
but because Bishop said he had his and he wanted them to get theirs,
they came and got a flu shot. What a testimonyial.
The initiative is funded by a CARES Act grant through the Michigan
Department of Health and Human Services.
Part of the program is asking questions about why people don't typically get
flu shots in order to break down barriers and combat myths and
misunderstandings.
Henry Ford is teaming up with Free Bikes 4 Kidz again this year.
In October,
the organization collected 1400 bicycles at donation sites across Metro
Detroit, including Henry Ford clinics. Plenty of bikes,
but the organization says they're short on volunteers to help get those bikes
ready for the holiday giveaway.
So we have a team member who's asking you to pitch in on their behalf.
David Gonzalez remembers the first time he put a little girl on a like-new
ride.
She was,
she might've been about three years old and the huge smile that she had on her
face from that point on, I say,
I will do this every year because this is what it's all about.
For the past few years.
David has been moonlighting in the Free Bikes 4 Kidz warehouse from October to
December. His day job is as a building engineer at One Ford Place.
When Henry Ford teamed up with the organization that collects and repairs
bicycles for underserved kids,three years ago,
David jumped at the chance to volunteer.
I love cycling.
I love to work on bikes and I saw the posting for for Free Bikes 4 Kidz on the
Henry Ford website, so I said, Oh, I want to do that.
He did so well, they gave him a paid position, but he donates that money back.
I'm really here to volunteer, even thought I'm getting paid,
but really my heart is volunteer.
So if I love to give it,
give it back back to Bob.
David is known for,
he comes here and he is always smiling. You can,
you can actually see it underneath the mask.
Free Bikes 4 Kidz executive director Bob Barnes says he could use more
volunteers like David, especially in these days of COVID.
Because normally we would have corporate groups, large corporate groups come in,
but because everybody's working from home that's not really happening this year.
And that means they're behind when it comes to cleaning up bikes and getting
them to David and the rest of the bike mechanics. If you can spare some time,
David will greet you with his trademark smile.
If you just have one hour,
even 30 minutes You could do it for one day or you could do a couple of days a
week or even on Saturday.
They're looking for volunteers of all skill levels.
To find out how you can help and to learn about the COVID safety measures that
they have in place go to FB4Kdetroit.org/volunteer.
What does happiness look like to you? Is it a child playing dress up?
Is it a moment of nature? Whether it's big or small,
multidisciplinary artist, Susan Goethel Campbell wants to see it.
She's been commissioned by the Henry Ford Cancer Institute Healing Arts program
to create a video project called "Sometimes a Moment" for the new Brigitte
Harris Cancer Pavilion. Goethel Campbell,
whose husband was treated for pancreatic cancer at Henry Ford,
says she hopes that by participating Cancer Institute staff will
take a moment to reflect on simple joys.
I totally observed how taxing their work
is and, um,
I just thought it would be really great to bring them into a creative process
and get them to touch base with one another on
something that maybe they didn't even know they have in common.
And let's see what that looks like.
Goethel Campbell will use submissions to construct a narrative that will play on
screens at the Briggite Harris Cancer Pavilion.
She's asking patients and their caregivers to contribute, too.
Finally our Featured Photo.
It captures a dance break at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital.
Team members and patients were treated to an energetic performance from Sherry's
Academy of Dance and the Woodhaven Dance Team.
The studio owner says the dancers wanted to perform to show their appreciation
for the care and devotion that frontline workers have given the community during
the pandemic.
We want to see what you and your team are doing to refresh and recharge.
So send us your photos and send story ideas from your corner of Henry Ford.
You can email us at newstips@hfhs.org.
Thanks for watching. And I'll see you over.
[Inaudible].