One local surgeon is taking on a small piece of that journey, knowing that when people have higher self-esteem, they have better life-long outcomes.

ANN ARBOR – A gift from donors Lainie and Kenny Lipschutz and the Lipschutz Family Fund has made Michigan Medicine’s Paws4Patients a permanent program in the health system. To honor the family’s generosity, the program has been renamed the Lipschutz-Danzansky Family Paws4Patients Program. Established in 2016 with the support of several donor families, the program -- and its four-legged caregivers -- provides support and comfort to Michigan Medicine patients and their families. (Courtesy: Michigan Medicine)The Lipschutzs are also members of the Michigan Medicine C.S. Each dog was matched with Michigan Medicine based on the types of patients that receive care and the health system’s needs.

ROYAL OAK, Mich. – Imagine heart surgery without anesthesia, breathing tubes and weeks of recovery time. A new noninvasive surgery is being offered at Beaumont Hospital that has the patient awake for the procedure. Mary Olk didn’t have any symptoms when the doctors discovered a new issue with her heart. “It wasn’t scary at all.”Olk is one of only a few dozen Beaumont patients who had heart surgery while she was awake. A group of Beaumont Health Care Heroes received the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday afternoon.