Hi, I'm Dana Jay, and this is Henry Ford.
Health System News.
We bring you stories about how our team members are putting our values of
compassion, innovation, respect, and results into action.
Henry Ford is believed to be the first health system in the country and the only
one in the Midwest with a team of paramedics,
like the ones you're about to meet.
They do things differently than the folks in the ambulances.
Instead of rushing patients to the hospital in an ambulance,
Henry Ford paramedic, Ryan Lewis brings the care to his patients.
Working on the ambulance. We only had a limited time with the patient,
but here we get to treat that patient and we actually build a bond with them.
Ryan.
Is one of 14 medics with Henry Ford's mobile integrated health team
making house calls. They keep patients on the road to good health.
After this stop. Ryan has two more.
I have one that's a diabetic patient and another that's a wound care patient.
The team visits patients who need follow-up care to keep them from returning to
the hospital or getting checked in, in the first place.
Thom Derkowski is director of the mobile integrated health service.
Providers have a feeling that their patient needs some sort of support at home,
um,
that something is causing them to either return to the emergency department or
even be readmitted to the hospital and the patient isn't always able
to pinpoint what that might be along with the provider.
About a third of the patients are referred by the emergency department.
Another third have recently been discharged from an inpatient unit and a third
have been referred by primary care physicians.
We want to make sure that the patient's only coming back to the hospital when it
is truly needed, we're really focused on value based care.
A clinical diagnosis is legswelling and cellulitis.
We're going to get her some diabetes education information, also?
The team works seven days a week,
starting each day with a huddle reviewing patient cases with the physician on
duty in the home,
the medic assesses the patient and gets a feel for their living conditions.
We see different things in their home environment that could contribute to their
respiratory problems. It can contribute to, um,
their falling and trip hazards.
Part of the visit includes the doctor.
Absolutely we may talk to the physician over the phone and the physician may
give us specific instructions. Um,
perhaps they may want us to draw labs or he may want us to review certain
medication.
A virtual exam kit or handheld ultrasound can bring the provider in, too.
With the full picture the patient's care is adjusted and customized so that they
continue to get better.
When you're seeing a patient and they continue to progress and progress it's so
rewarding because they're happy and you feel proud because you able to help them
to heal at home.
Since April of 2020,
the Mobile Integrated Health Service team has done more than 3000
visits. Any physician within Henry Ford can refer patients to them.
And so can providers outside Henry Ford. Do you have an avatar?
You might think of something like this,
or maybe a video game when you hear that word.
Well at the Hermelin Brain Tumor Center,
researchers are using samples from their brain tumor bank to create another kind
of avatar. That's helping them search for a cure for brain cancer.
At Henry Ford and the Hermelin Brain Tumor Center we have the incredible
opportunity to collect samples from a patient's brain tumor.
Moments after I remove a patient's tumor,
a portion of that tissue is on its way to our brain tumor bank.
That's where our researchers are searching for new treatments and hopefully one
day a cure for brain cancer.
At the Hermelin Brain Tumor Center our ability to collect samples immediately
after surgery opens up the opportunity to study multiple types of tumors.
We are using specimens in our brain tumor bank to create avatar models.
Avatars are extremely useful when it comes to find the best treatment for
high-grade gliomas.
Gliomas are especially hard to treat because rather than being one single tumor,
they're actually made up of multiple different tumors.
It's important for researchers to develop treatments for each variant and avatar
models help us.
There is an impossibly large number of drug combinations for treating brain
tumors.
In a typical clinical trial researchers test one therapy at a time.
It's not possible to test multiple treatment options on one patient.
By creating an avatar model,
we can test multiple treatment options and find which is the best one for that
patient.
These avatar models open new frontiers to test the efficacy of different
treatments.
These avatars are essential for creating the best personalized treatment for
patients. One day because of avatar research,
we may be able to stop a high-grade glioma in his tracks.
That research and a whole lot more is possible in part because of patients
who agree to donate part of their tumor to the tumor bank.
Henry Ford's is one of the largest in the world.
Some team members have brand new wheels thanks to a partnership between Henry
Ford and the City of Detroit. 22 essential workers picked up free bicycles.
This month, team members who live in Detroit within 10 miles of work,
and sometimes struggle with reliable transportation were eligible for the
giveaway.
Henry Ford director of sustainability Chip Amoe says the bikes are meant to
promote the wellbeing of team members and the environment.
In addition,
it really helps promote making Detroit and frankly,
our region more bikeable walkable and sustainable,
which is going to be beneficial Um, not only for the health of our communities,
but also for our economic health as well.
The effort is spearheaded by Detroit City Councilman Scott Benson,
who was on hand to make sure folks knew how to ride safely.
This is the second year for the giveaway at Henry Ford Hospital.
Now let's check out our featured photo, a big thank you is headed your way.
The Thrive and COVID Emotional Support teams recently
packed up more than 125,000 goodies destined for care
carts that are making the rounds. The snacks, toiletries,
and thank you notes are courtesy of operation gratitude,
a California-based organization.
We want to see what you and your teammates are up to.
So send us your story ideas or some photos to
newstips@hfhs.org. Thanks for watching.
And I'll see you around
[inaudible].