It’s like one of those, “upon further review,” statements. Essentially, upon further review, Lakeland Health will cease to offer their in-house boutique location within the Marie Yeager Cancer Center that has, for half a dozen years, offered the Van’s Health & Appearance Center for cancer patients there.
The unique boutique has discontinued operations in light of private enterprise options now available in the local marketplace.
Jann Totzke is Director of Oncology Services for Lakeland Health. She says that Van’s Health & Appearance Center, which has been in place at the Marie Yeager Cancer Center since it first opened six years ago, provided specialty comfort and cancer care products for men and women both during and following cancer treatment. Totzke tells us, “As a non-profit organization, Lakeland has a duty to evaluate services and to not duplicate what is already available in the community.” She points out that, “Fortunately cancer patients still have access to appearance services in the community at locations such as Studio I, currently located on Paulmar Avenue in St. Joseph. Staff at Studio I provide breast prostheses and mastectomy apparel as well as compression garments, hair prostheses, hats, turbans, and more.”
The closure of the Health & Appearance Center there, however, has no impact on Van’s Medical Equipment of Lakeland which specializes in products such as: hospital beds, oxygen concentrators, portable oxygen, nebulizers, CPAP/BIPAP, walkers, rollators, wheelchairs, lift chairs, patient lifts, bath safety, and compression stockings.
Van’s will continue to offer their full line of home medical equipment at three locations within the community including their main office located at 323 W. Glenlord Road in St. Joseph as well as the Welcome Center at Lakeland Medical Center, St. Joseph and the first floor of the Lakeland Medical Suites in Niles.
The team at Van’s Medical asked me to share this information with you:
“The entire Van’s organization is very sad the decision to close the Van’s Health & Appearance had to be made. This was one of the most difficult decisions in the 100 year history of Van’s.
Van’s Medical Equipment is very proud of the above & beyond customer service provided by certified fitters, Rita Katai and Karen Burkhardt. Their passion for serving breast cancer patients is unmatched. Not being able to continue serving their patients has been an emotional burden for Rita & Karen.
We want to thank all our Van’s Health & Appearance clients for your trust and allowing us to serve you over the years.
We ask our community to join Van’s and reach out to our US and Michigan legislators and let them know how Medicare, Medicaid & BCBSMI reimbursement cuts for durable medical equipment, prosthetics & orthotics have affected you & the services in our community.”
Meanwhile, To help your transition to Studio I, the Conard family has asked me to share this information with you:
“Studio I is a local family owned and operated Breast and Wig Boutique that has been servicing the greater Southwestern Michigan and Northeastern Indiana areas for over 28 years. Our staff is accredited through the American Board for Certification in Orthotics and Prosthetics (ABC), and are also State Board Licensed Cosmetologists. We provide complementary breast/bra fittings, compression fittings, custom wig fittings and alterations.
In addition to our original location in St Joseph, MI, we recently expanded into both Indiana and Illinois. In August of 2010, we were invited to open our 2nd location inside the new Michiana Hematology Oncology building in Mishawaka, IN, offering our services to their campuses in Plymouth, Elkhart, South Bend and Michigan City. Then, in January of 2014, we acquired Naturally Yours in Willowbrook, IL, and its 30+ year history of serving the greater western suburbs of Chicago.
As a result of these 3 combined locations, we are able to offer one of the largest in stock inventories of Post-Mastectomy products in the region. In breast forms we offer custom made, traditional, attachable, partial, leisure and swim forms. We also offer mastectomy bras, mastectomy swimwear, hats and scarves. This is in addition to our unsurpassed selection of in stock Medical wigs and hair pieces consisting of Allure, human/heat friendly fiber blends, kanekalon, and 100% human hair. Other products include Post-Surgical Camisoles (which includes drain pockets), Compression sleeves, gauntlets and gloves.
Although we have been offering custom made breast forms for over 13 years, in early 2016 we were selected to be one of the 1st establishments in the country to offer American Breast Care’s most advanced, state of the art custom breast form through all 3 of our locations. The custom forms are 100% made in America, and all required digital scanning is performed at our locations and by our own professionally trained staff. This virtually eliminates the lengthy waiting period normally required for scheduling a custom fitting.
We are also the exclusive local distributor of SPERO-HOPE, an all-natural, paraben free, chemical and aluminum free line of deodorants and body care products.
There is no charge for the first initial wig consultation and we offer courtesy billing for all insurance companies. Although we are contracted with many insurance companies which includes all Medicare and most Medicaid insurances, we suggest calling ahead to determine exact coverages. Many are surprised to learn that in a lot of cases Medicare’s coverage surpasses that of other independent plans and policies.”
Available locations and store hours:
Studio I…2540 Paulmar Ave St. Joseph, MI…269.428.3400…Hours: Wed & Thurs 8am-4pm, Fri 8am-6pm
Studio I Boutique…5340 Holy Cross Pkwy (inside Michiana Hematology Oncology) Mishawaka, IN 574.231.6470…Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30am-4pm
Naturally Yours…7219 Kingery Hwy (Rt 83) Willowbrook, IL…630.570.5004 Summer Hours: Tues, Wed & Fri 8am-4pm, Thurs 8am-6pm
Please check our website for all other information along with any seasonal changes to hours of operation www.studio1boutique.com
