St. John Health System

St. John Health is a Detroit-based non-profit corporation that owns and operates eight hospitals and over 125 medical facilities in Michigan.

The organization has more than 19,400 associates and operates 2,341 licensed beds.

St. John Health is a member of the Ascension Health Care System and operates the following hospitals:

* St. John Hospital & Medical Center [http://www.stjohn.org/StJohnHospital]
* St. John Providence Hospital [http://www.stjohn.org/Providence]
* St. John Macomb Hospital [http://www.stjohn.org/Macomb]
* St. John North Shores Hospital [http://www.stjohn.org/NorthShores]
* St. John Oakland Hospital (Madison Heights) [http://www.stjohn.org/Oakland]
* St. John Providence Hospital Novi [http://www.stjohn.org/NoviHospital]
* St. John River District Hospital [http://www.stjohn.org/RiverDistrict]
* St. John Brighton Hospital [http://www.stjohn.org/Brighton]

History

The Sisters of St. Joseph started St. John Hospital in 1952 with 250 beds and 70 employees on Moross Road at the old Beaupre farm in a section called the “widow’s dower.” Work on the hospital began immediately following the groundbreaking ceremony on March 8, 1948, the feast of St. John of God (who in 1540 established a house to harbor poor and sick persons). Four-and-a-half year old Brenda Kay Earle was the hospital’s first patient on May 15, 1952. Also in that year, Randall John Stewart was the first baby born there. In 2006, there were 4,900 employees and a 700-member medical staff.The hospital’s Emergency Room treated 8,287 patients during 1956, its first year. By 2001, the Emergency Center staff was treating more than 76,400 patients as a major level-two emergency center for the east side community.

The Men’s Guild began in 1948 and is believed to have been the first men’s hospital fund raising group in the United States. It has 750 members that support its philanthropic efforts, highlighted by the Annual Guild Dinner.

Both the Sisters of St.Joseph and the Men’s Guild have worked together over the years to further the goals of the hospital system.

Awards

St. John Health is a winner of the 2007 [http://www.aarp.org/money/careers/employerresourcecenter/bestemployers/winners/st_john_health.html AARP Best Employers for Workers over 50 Program]
St. John Hospital is ranked 49th in 2007 for Neurosurgery and Neurosciences by [http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/best-hospitals/directory/hospital.php?id=6440805 US News and World Report] .
xSt. John Health (SJH) was named one of “Metro Detroit’s “101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For” by the Michigan Business and Professional Association (MBPA) and the National Association for Business Resources.
St. John Home Care received the Michigan Award of Excellence for Improving Care in the Home Health Setting from the Michigan Peer Review Organization (MPRO). To receive this award home health agencies in Michigan voluntarily participate in the development, refinement and sharing of clinical best practices for improving the care of patients in the home setting.

Diabetes Care

Providence Hospital in Southfield and St. John Providence Park Hospital in Novi are the first hospitals in southeast Michigan to affiliate with the Boston based, Joslin Diabetes Center, the global leader in diabetes research, care and education. The center will offer the latest advances for treating diabetes and its complications as well as patient education and support services.

Founded more than 100 years ago, Joslin Diabetes Center, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, has helped revolutionize the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diabetes worldwide. is the nation's largest institution dedicated exclusively to the clinical care and treatment of patients with diabetes, as well as research related to diabetes and its complications. Researchers at Joslin are working to prevent, treat and cure diabetes and its complications

Pregnancy and Asthma

Pregnant asthmatic women should continue to use their asthma medication in the lowest dose possible to manage symptoms during pregnancy, according to a new Practice Bulletin cite journal|title=Asthma in Pregnancy|date=2008|author=Mitchell Dombrowski|journal=AcoG Practice Bulletin No. 90 111: 457-464 ] released in early February by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists authored by Mitchell P. Dombrowski, M.D, an internationally known expert on high-risk pregnancy and chief of OB/GYN at St. John Hospital and Medical Center.

Child Heath Care

Under the direction of Ali Rabbani, MD, chief of Pediatrics, St. John Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) opened in 1970. St. John is also a regional referral center for high-risk pregnancies.Eight hundred fifty-five births took place in the first delivery rooms back in 1952 versus the 3,893 babies born in 2001 at the St. John Birthing center. The facility is able to serve 31 mothers, infants and families for labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum care.

urgery

The first heart by-pass surgery at the hospital was performed by Philip J. Feringa, MD, who along with his team planned and studied for more than a year under leading heart surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic.St. John offers most diagnostic, surgical and non-surgical cardiac treatment available. The first laparoscopic gallbladder removal procedure in Michigan took place in 1989 at St. John. A laparoscope is a miniature camera that projects pictures from inside the patient’s body to a video monitor. This tool requires only a very small surgical incision for procedures such as hernia repair, appendectomies, splenectomies, adrenal gland removal, colon resections, lumbar fusion and removal of spleen and liver cysts.The Transplant Specialty Center opened in 1990. In 1992, the first pancreas transplant took place.Then in 1993, the first kidney removal using a laparoscope was done. Before the end of 2000, the Transplant Specialty Center performed its 500th organ transplant.

Cancer Care

The St. John Hospital and Medical Center Oncology Department began in 1968 and is now located in the recently opened Van Elslander Cancer Center (VECC) on the hospital’s campus. The convert|69000|sqft|m2|sing=onfacility focuses on offering holistic treatment and conventional cancer therapies.

Affiliated with the University of Michigan Cancer Center Network, the VanElslander Cancer Center, along with the U of M and other St. John Health System hospitals treats more than 14,000 new cancer cases every year

Medical Education

St. John Health teaching hospitals educate new doctors in Family Practice, General Surgery, Internal Medicine,OB/GYN, Pathology, Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine for physicians’ post-medical school training, plus residency in Pharmacy Practices for post-degree students. In addition, St. John serves as a practical training site for students of Nursing, Pharmacy, and Physical and Occupational Therapy, among others.

References