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Henry Ford WB hospital opens new parking structure
WEST BLOOMFIELD — Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital announced the opening of a new five-story, 614-space parking structure. It includes 24 handicap spaces and 12 charging stations for electric vehicles. Levels 1 and 2 are designated for patients and visitors, and it is free to park.
“The opening of the parking structure allows our patients better access to the care they need close to home,” Shanna Johnson, the president of Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital and interim president of Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, said in a press release. “Our hospital has experienced demand faster than we could have projected, and as such there is a critical need for more parking options. We look forward to continuing to serve the health care needs of our patients, while opening the door for more community events and engagement activities within our four walls.”
The structure features a covered walkway connecting the structure to the hospital’s main entrance.
Optimists, Jacket Club team up to help families
WEST BLOOMFIELD/Keego Harbor — The West Bloomfield Optimists’ and the Keego Jacket Club’s Holiday Happiness event has 70 families and 133 children in need, according to a press release.
Last year, the groups’ efforts helped an estimated 41 families and 69 children in the area.
“We provided each family with a large basket of food, including all the fixings for a turkey dinner, each child with a new winter coat or hoodie and a quality wrapped gift,” the groups said in a press release. The increased need this year “is stretching our resources to the limit,” they said in the press release. “We appreciate any financial support you may be able to provide this effort.”
Checks can be made payable to the West Bloomfield Optimist Club Foundation and can be mailed to the West Bloomfield Optimist Club, Chris White, Treasurer, 5688 Hobnail Circle West Bloomfield, 48322. For more information, call (248) 613-3314.
State organ donations break yearly record
STATEWIDE — Gift of Life Michigan announced Nov. 20 that it broke its record for lifesaving organ donations in a single year after the 500th organ was donated through Gift of Life.
Donors in 2023 have so far resulted in more than 1,200 organs transplanted, saving the lives of hundreds of critically ill patients in Michigan and beyond. Gift of Life Michigan helped a record 463 organ donors and their families give their final gifts in 2022. In 2021, the number stood at 429.
“Michigan’s latest milestone is incredibly meaningful. I’m in awe of those 500 donors and their families who decided that helping others was important to them,” Dorrie Dils, the president and CEO of Gift of Life, said in a press release. “They have given their recipients the best gift — new life. As we approach Thanksgiving, we know how grateful they must be.”
Gift of Life is the country’s 11th-largest federally designated organ procurement organization.
Those saved by a donated organ included Sherry Johnson, of Farmington, who received a heart and kidney transplant at Michigan Medicine in late October. She went home this month after 96 days waiting for and recovering from her double transplant from a single donor.
“I am home,” she said. “I am healthy and happy, and there won’t be an empty seat at my family’s Thanksgiving dinner table this week,” she said in a press release. “I’m thinking about and thanking my donor, my unknown hero. How does one honor someone who would do that for me? Together, we will do great things.”
More than 4.5 million adults in this state have joined the Michigan Organ Donor Registry and have a red heart on their driver’s license or state ID, indicating their decision to donate organs and tissue.
To register as an organ donor, visit a Secretary of State branch office or go to golm.org/register.
Pontiac opens new skatepark
PONTIAC — Skateboarders and other extreme sports fans are invited to try out Pontiac’s new skatepark.
The new skatepark is located in Oakland Park, 500 E. Montcalm St. A grand opening ceremony is expected to take place in May 2024. The new facility was born of a collaboration between the city of Pontiac, the Pontiac Skatepark Project, local activists and skate enthusiasts, the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, the Oakland County Commission, and The Skatepark Project — formerly known as the Tony Hawk Foundation.
Through this collaborative funding partnership, $568,000 was established in support of this project. Pontiac’s newly constructed skatepark is an estimated 10,000 square feet and features several ramps of various sizes, handrails, flat rails, ledges and other amenities to accommodate skaters of all skill levels.
Skatepark hours are 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Nov. 16-March 14, 2024; and 7 a.m.-8 p.m. March 15, 2024, to Nov. 14, 2024.
No motorized or electric vehicles are allowed on the skatepark, skaters must wear protective equipment, and there is no skating during inclement weather such as snow, rain or fog.
