Henry Ford’s Health Palace

12 February, 2009

by Nicole.C

(Above-left to right: Cutting the ribbon of another Henry ford project; Gerard )

(Above-left to right: Cutting the ribbon of another Henry ford project; Gerard van Grinsven, President and CEO of Henry Ford West Bloomfield standing in front of current construction; Nancy Schlichting, President and CEO of Henry Ford Health Systems in one of the new rooms)

“I think in a hospital people should get better service even than in a five-star hotel because they’re worried,” said Gerard van Grinsven, President and CEO of Henry Ford West Bloomfield. “They’re concerned, they don’t know what’s going on. They don’t know what impact it will have on their jobs, their lives, their families.”

Such was the motivation behind the $360 million project that will be the Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital in Oakland County, due to open next month. The hospital interior has been designed with Feng Shui principles, luxurious and warm furnishings, and the comforts don’t even stop there.

Each of the starting 192 beds in their own private, sound-deadened rooms will have flat-screen TVs, wireless Web access, and serene views of a beautiful pond. The beds are expected to grow to 300 within two years, and 450 when necessary.

The hospital has also collaborated with upscale grocer Papa Joe’s of Rochester and Detroit restaurateur Matt Prentice to create organic, sustainable and tastey meals for its patients, staff and guests.

Possibly the greatest new feature of this hospital, however, is a 90-seat fully modernized kitchen auditorium which will host healthy cooking demonstrations in partnership with culinary students from nearby Schoolcraft College.

“What they’re trying to do, and I think they’re going to achieve, is a new way for hospitals to relate to patients and families, a new kind of work environment and a new way for that facility to relate to the community,” said Rick Wade, senior vice president of the American Hospital Association. “I think we in health care need to play a much more active role in educating and being those community centers, rather than being those typical, traditional hospitals.”