[Inaudible].
Hi, I'm Dana Jay, and this is Henry Ford Health System News.
We love to sing the praises of our team members.
This time we're starting with the story of a gravely ill patient who wanted to
share the gift of song with her friends and family one last time and the Henry
Ford team members that helped her do it.
It's really going to be
alright
go on and dry your eyes.
Kuipiio Livingston and her voice inspire and comfort.
The gospel singer seen here at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit with her mom and
dad spent more than two months with the people she called her Henry Ford
family.
Everyone has things they need, but when they come here,
they drop everything and take care of us.
So I pray that God blesses them at home, their finances,
that he gives them sweet rest, that he rejuvenate them.
Even as she faced one of the toughest decisions of her life,
Kuipiio brought joy to her medical ICU care team.
It's my job to show myself friendly,
even in my situation.
And so I try to spread love, period,
no matter how bad I feel.
Her positive attitude, helping her caregivers stay positive.
It gave us that light to keep on coming back,
keep fighting for everyone.
The professional gospel singer lived with sarcoidosis,
a disease that affects the lungs, for more than two decades.
When she checked into Henry Ford hospital in July,
her disease was progressing quickly. She needed a tracheostomy.
It was daunting because the choice that I needed to make was probably going to
mean I couldn't talk or sing and it was like unbelievable that it had to be
that. But I had a thought like, you know,
I just wish I could sing one more time with my friends because this could be it.
And I was delighted that the, uh, nurse manager,
when I asked her, uh, her response was, let me see what I could do.
Staff worked with Kuipiio to invite friends and family to a concert in the
visitor's lounge.
They worked with infection control to create a safe environment,
coordinated nursing and respiratory care.
Kuipiio's respiratory therapist even helped with her hair and makeup.
She had gone through my Facebook page and found how I dress
as an artist, images, everything. So she knew my style and she said,
I'm going to go get some stuff.
On August 16th the gospel singer gave her final concert.
My peace I leave with you.
It won't fade away.
Sometimes you think people like you and you think they love you,
but when they actually show you by doing things that extreme,
it was overwhelming to say the least.
Kuipiio wanted to share her story as a thank you to her team.
The team wants you to know about Kuipiio's inspiring
grace and gratitude.
We all walked out of there a whole different person wanting to come back with
more strength and energy behind us. It was like, we can do this.
We can keep going. We can keep this fight alive.
And it was so helpful for the whole staff to be able to see that and appreciate
it.
I'm sad to report that Kuipiio Livingston passed away in late September,
about a week after leaving Henry Ford Hospital.
It was a true pleasure to meet her and her care team.
Now let's go to West Bloomfield.
A grateful patient and his wife returning to the hospital to say thank you.
Richard LaBelle spent several weeks at Henry Ford,
West Bloomfield hospital in February.
He had COVID and as his health declined,
doctors told him his only hope for survival was a double lung transplant.
He was transferred to Henry Ford Hospital, where he got those lungs in 24 hours.
Richard and Linda LaBelle say the team at both hospitals provided constant hope,
kindness, and positivity.
And it sounds repetitious, but I just,
neither one of us can...can't thank you enough...can't thank you enough.
The LaBelles, who are pastors at a church in Milford,
say our team members are miracle workers.
We know our team members go above and beyond for our patients every single day.
Thank you for everything that you do.
Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital is equipping four Downriver fire departments with
brand new equipment to help patients who are having a heart attack.
The state-of-the-art Lifepak 15s can be used for basic and advanced
life support and monitoring a patient's heart rate.
But perhaps most important is the ability to transmit 12
lead EKG from the ambulance to the hospital.
The machine is so advanced that it can even identify a massive heart
attack or what we call S T segment elevated EMI or STEMI.
If we identify this in the field,
we activate our catheterization and cardiology team immediately.
And when our EMS partners arrive on scene,
we're essentially able to make just a very brief stop in the ED and get them
right away for emergent, um, cardiac interventions like angioplasty and stent.
The new devices will replace older equipment currently on Downriver ambulances.
Many are so old they can't be repaired if they break.
When we found out that we were receiving the grant for the Lifepak 15s,
we pretty excited. I'm not going to lie. I, uh,
almost jumped across my desk and high-fived my assistant chief. Uh,
it's something that we have needed and have, uh,
been looking to the future to figure out how we were gonna actually pay for
these.
Henry Ford Wyandotte hospital is granting a total of
$234,000 to fire departments in Brownstown,
Riverview, Woodhaven,
and Wyandotte to get the life saving devices on ambulances.
Finally, our featured photo,
we're proud to tell you that Henry Ford's Pride employee resource group
participated in Detroit Pride Parade for the first time. This year,
the event took place in downtown Detroit in mid September.
The group saw some familiar faces,
gave an interview to local news and took their annual photo with our friends
at that hospital across town.
It's always my pleasure to tell you all the exciting things that our team
members are up to. If you have a story idea, send it my way. I'm Dana Jay.
Thanks for watching. And I'll see you around.
[Inaudible].