A new era at Cottage Hospital
turns toward specialty care

Recently announced changes at Henry Ford Cottage Hospital in Grosse Pointe Farms are only the latest to grapple with the central problem of the facility–it's a small hospital in the midst of a long-running trend toward bigger ones.

The coming closing of all inpatient services, including medical/surgical, behavioral health and rehabilitation units raises the question: Is this a transition to an eventual closing?

“I really don’t think that’s what they’re doing,” said Sharon Maier, executive director of Services for Older Citizens. “This is actually very exciting news because they’re turning it into a medical center, and it’s going to enhance the senior’s end of medicine in our area.”

Cottage hospital will be closing its inpatient operations by April 3 and offer only outpatient care. At the same time, the hospital will offer more services geared toward the health of women and senior citizens.

“It’s evident that the hospital is being responsive to the community’s needs,” said Shane Reeside, city manager of Grosse Pointe Farms. “There is an abundance of inpatient care out there, and they’re refocusing on specialty services by beefing up the Center for Women’s Health and providing new kinds of care for seniors.”

Even with its focus on women and seniors, some believe the new arrangement will continue to serve everyone else in the Pointes as well.

“It’s working off of the Fairlane Medical Center model, where it has all these services together so you can go from one department to another for (what) you need,” said Maier. “They’ll still have the emergency room and all the doctors to take care of people, and they’re also going to have geriatric physicians and things that we don’t have in other parts of the Grosse Pointe’s right now.

“They’re going to have a niche market that isn’t happening locally right now.”

Some of the programs still being offered at Cottage are emergency care, outpatient surgery, Center for Women’s Health, physical and occupational therapy, cardiology, radiation oncology and infusion services.

“I don’t see this as the end of Cottage,” said Reeside. “They’re reorganizing. They’re still providing outpatient care, but relocating clinical services.” 

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