Some of JHI’s Recent Success Stories
Beltsy Baby
In 2003, on a mission to Chişinău, Moldova, participants made a house call to visit a 15 month old baby in Beltsy (a town outside Chişinău) who was born with myelomingiocoele, a serious neurological disorder. The disease can cause impairment of normal neurological growth and development among other issues. After the initial diagnosis, JHI sent two additional teams of specialists to see the child. Many tests substantiated the diagnosis, and the specialists determined the best solution was immediate surgical intervention. They believed that decompressing her spinal abnormality was the only way to save this baby. The next problem was, the necessary procedure was not available in Moldova. JHI found the solution in the form of the Sheba Hospital in Israel, which, after confirmation of the diagnosis, agreed to provide most of the necessary tests, pre-operative care, surgical intervention, post-operative care, and follow-up. Through the generosity of the Israeli hospital, individual donors, JHI’s coordinator in Chişinău, and with the help of the Jewish Agency For Israel, visas were secured for the child and her mother, a twenty year old who had never left Moldova. This young mother boarded a plane without hesitation and invested her faith in JHI and the world wide Jewish Community. With empty pockets and hope in her heart, she said calmly and quietly, “I am not worried because the Jewish people will take care of us.”
Update: The Beltsy baby is doing extremely well. Her prognosis for long term recovery is superb with a high probability of full recovery, normal growth and development. Since the surgery, JHI has brought follow-up teams to monitor her health and continues to coordinate her care with the local Jewish community.
TopMohammed Zaid El Shemi
Mohammed Zaid El Shemi was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was hit in the left eye with a small rock thrown by a classmate, in Gaza. A careless childhood act resulted in years of physical and emotional pain for Mohammed. He experienced pain, missed school for long periods, and his education suffered. He could barely read or write Arabic. He was ridiculed and called “Abu-Eyne Maklou’a,” “Father of the Damaged Eye.” After years of doctor’s visits and operations, the young boy and his family had almost given up hope that he would live a normal, healthy life. In an attempt to save his vision, the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, brought Mohammed to Atlanta for treatment in November 2004. He was supposed to receive an operation that would replace his damaged cornea with a healthy one. Unfortunately, the surgeon concluded that there was too much damage to Mohammed’s eye, and the procedure would not work. When it seemed hopeless that Mohammed would find relief from his pain and suffering, fate stepped in.
One day, Mohammed’s story got to a local ophthalmologist, Dr. Stephen Kutner. Dr. Kutner determined that although the damaged eye was beyond repair, immediate surgery would not only relieve Mohammed’s pain and prevent the damage from spreading to his healthy eye. Dr. Kutner reconstructed the damaged bones around the left eye and implanted a prosthesis that looked exactly like the right eye. Now Mohammed would look just like the rest of his peers, and would not suffer the humiliation of being “different” during his adolescent years. He returned home to continue his education with new hope and confidence.
Update: With the swelling diminished, Mohammed was able to return to his studies after missing years of school.
TopMichael Kaganovich
Michael Kaganovich at 37–year–old was a well–known Belarusian doctor working in the intensive care unit of the Minsk Children Surgical Centre, saving children lives was his life work and duty. Hundreds of children were brought back to life thanks to his everyday efforts. And suddenly everything changed. On September 18, 2005 he was hurt in a terrible car accident. Several operations and weeks of intensive treatment did not bring any tangible improvement in Michael's health. His colleagues and experts from the Minsk State Medical University did their best to stop the inflammation. It was a life and death situation. Time was running out, and Michael was near death. The only hope was a drug (Polymixin B) not registered in Belarus. All attempts to find the drug locally failed. Appeals were made to various organizations, to search for the drug and hope for Michael's recovery revived. But in most of the nearby countries this medicine is for hospital use only. The issue was brought to the attention of Jewish Healthcare International, who extended their helping hand. Shipment of the drug and getting it released by the customs became only a matter of time. Within three days the vital medicine was delivered to Belarus. And it took the Minsk Jewish Community Resource & Development (R&D) Centre only one day to get the Polymixin B through customs and to bring it to the hospital. Elena Kaganovich said: “Without JHI and the R&D Centre assistance I would probably have lost my husband and my children would have grown up without their father. Your help reminds me that there is no limit to what people can accomplish.
Update: Dr. Michael Kaganovich is well and practicing in emergency services in Minsk.
TopDima Kaspiarovich
Just two months after 11 year old Dima returned to Belarus from a month long visit in Virginia in the summer of 2006, he was hit by a truck on the outskirts of his village. His spinal cord was severed and he would never walk again. In a struggle for his life he was hospitalized for the next four months, his mother sleeping on a thin mattress on the floor next to him. He told one of the Chernobyl program's chaperones that he often thought of the warm Virginia sun and all the fun he had to help him feel better. When JHI was apprised of the situation, we asked our partners in Minsk to help. First we obtained a wheelchair for Dima (he had been sharing one with four others). JHI was able to get Dima transferred to a hospital in Minsk and for treatment and helped get medical supplies that were in short supply in this poor country. Then JHI contacted Dr Zeilig at Sheba Medical Center in Israel, asking him to travel to Belarus to assess the condition and options for Dima. The prognosis was that Dima’s injury would result in permanent paralysis from the waist down. However, with Dr. Zeilig’s diagnosis in hand, the decision was made to send Dima for rehabilitative care at Sheba Hospital in Israel. JHI successfully coordinated care for a young man who would otherwise have no place to turn for help.
Update: In July 2008, we were able to coordinate the further treatment and care by moving Dima, with his uncle Vladimir, to Israel to begin therapy and treatment. Dima is showing improvement and is happily enjoying the use of computer games donated by Compedia Educational Projects and Systems.
TopSpecial Consideration for Much Needed Medication
It was a Sunday morning in Atlanta when the JHI Medical Director, Dr. Stephen Kutner received an email from his friend Dvora, the associate director of the Tzedakah Foundation in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She said that she had received an email written in Spanish stating that an 11 year old child, suffering with Hemophilia, would run out of a blood supplemental medication within one month, and desperately needed more to survive. There were three major problems; the medication was cost prohibitive, not available locally and desperately needed to save his life. Dr Kutner immediately contacted his colleagues within the JHI network and with their help, contacts and resources; we were able to arrange delivery of a 2 year supply to this child within the week.
Update: We received word lately that the young boy is in remission and doing very well.
TopWheelchair Donation
Five year old Domik was afflicted with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus at birth. He barely weighed 40 pounds and was almost 4 ft. tall. His parents had major difficulties, when they had to take Domik to the doctor. They lived in a 3rd floor apartment and the old baby carriage had long been outgrown. Domik was much too big to carry. This dilemma was brought to the attention of JHI. After investigating the situation, JHI was successful in getting an up-to-date, folding wheelchair, delivered to his parents, thus enabling them to take their child to his doctors’ appointments and allowing the family to visit the countryside and their parents’ Dacha on the outskirts of the city.
TopGulf Coast Hurricane Katrina/Rita Disaster Response
In August 2006 the JHI phone rang off the hook with calls from medical personnel all over the United States and Israel, asking us to make arrangements so they could go to the Gulf Coast to offer medical assistance to the victims of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. JHI successfully partnered with Operation Blessing and a clinic in Vidalia, Louisiana. We immediately began deploying medical volunteers to assist with the diverse medical needs of residents impacted by the hurricanes. Health related services were provided by volunteer professionals from around the United States. The patients are newly impoverished, formerly middle-class residents who are trying to return to the area. Local hospitals are available to take unstable patients, but the wait in the ER for non-urgent care can be 24 hours, so patients avoid going there unless they are desperately ill.
Patients line up outside the Operation Blessing Free Clinic starting around 2 a.m., the gates open around 6:30 a.m., and intake/triage begins. Providers start seeing patients around 9 a.m., and many providers will see about 80 ambulatory patients in an average day (M-F). A philosophy was established at the start that the level of care provided is state of the art care, meeting the same standards that are provided to all Americans (i.e. goals for screening for cancer, goals for levels of control of diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol control, etc.) They also regard the patients as theirs, calling them with results, with follow-up issues, etc. There certainly are hurdles to providing this level of care but there is a commitment to take care of everyone who needs medical assistance.
Update: The State of Louisiana recently rescinded the “Good Samaritan” act that permitted medical practitioners, not certified in Louisiana, to practice in Louisiana. As a result, JHI is no longer able to place volunteers at the Operation Blessing clinic.
TopHealth Fair and Home Reconstruction in New Orleans
In May 2008 JHI led a group of over 45 women volunteers who were interested in doing hands-on work, to New Orleans to work in a one day health fair and to help in the reconstruction of homes demolished by the hurricanes of 2006. Half of the group participated in the health fair, which was organized by JHI and Plaquemines Parish, the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta and the Plaquemines Medical Clinic, to help address unmet medical needs of local residents and to let the residents know they had access to a free clinic, available for their health needs. JHI organized the health fair at the Plaquemines Medical Center clinic and led the screening of over 80 individuals for vision, hearing, dental and general health related issues. All individuals with pathologies or in need of further medical attention were immediately referred to the Plaquemines Medical Clinic system or to local physicians.
Update: Locals using the Plaquemines Clinic has increased significantly following the health fair and the vision screening lane now has a crowded appointment calendar.
JHI also coordinated a group of volunteers to work on home reconstruction, helping to rebuild two of the homes destroyed by the floods. JHI partnered with the St. Bernard Project in St. Bernard Parish on the home reconstruction day, taking more than 25 women to spend the day installing insulation, hanging sheet rock and windows and visiting with the home owners who will soon be able to move into their “new” homes.
Update: The house our group worked on was finished and the proud owner has moved back home!
TopBikur Holim Centers of Excellence
Bikur Holim was founded in 1924 and is one of the few Jewish Hospitals in the FSU. Before the Second World War it was a progressive institution, operating as a center of excellence with a nursing school and enjoying an excellent reputation. After languishing under Soviet rule, the hospital was returned to the Jewish community by the government of Latvia in 1992. This hospital provides a significant amount of care to the poor, and especially the elderly ex-Soviet Jewish poor. The first objective of management and staff was to establish Bikur Holim as a Center of Excellence in multiple modalities including Dental, Ophthalmology, Gastroenterology and Gynecology. JHI volunteer doctors worked with Dr. Arkady Gandz Director of Bikur Holim and his staff developing the plan for a state of the art Endoscopy lab, including design and training of personnel. In April, 2002 JHI secured a grant to fund the lab and it opened later that year. The following year, the gynecology track was started and a new team of JHI volunteer physicians assisted with that transition. It too was extremely successful. From there the plan called for up dating the Gastroenterology and Dental Labs, which happened in 2004 and 2005.
Update: A recent report from GI Doc, Dr David Taylor a participant on our May 2008 mission, said the instruments and equipment we obtained for the GI lab are very well utilized by the young, exceptionally well trained GI staff. The Dental Lab, supported by both JHI and the dental society Alpha Omega, is coming to its own level of excellence. Dental and Oral surgery provide up to date services, resulting in a city-wide center of excellence in this field. Drs. Marc Rothman, Dr. Stu Fischman and Dr. Dov Sydney have led the way in advising on this aspect of Bikur Holim. Also in May 2008, Dr. Rothman demonstrated up to date maxillo-facial surgery techniques.
Observation: Dr. Rothman says “I had an opportunity to make a real difference in the professional development of the doctors with whom I worked. I taught, and performed surgery while they observed. I worked with them on diagnosis and treatment planning skills. What a wonderful way, I thought, to complement my professional career.”
TopJewish Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (JVOAD)
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the desire of Jewish community members to volunteer together within a Jewish framework became apparent. Unfortunately, no comprehensive Jewish response network had been established. People were encouraged to volunteer through existing disaster response networks, which proved very frustrating as they were not able to respond adequately or to effectively place those greatly needed volunteers. Jewish Healthcare International decided the void needed to be filled. Initially in New Orleans, we worked with local agencies to provide credentials, lodging, food and medical supplies for our volunteers. Following Hurricane Katrina, JHI and its Board of Directors decided to develop a long range plan to establish a comprehensive Jewish response to disaster.
Update: In 2007, JHI partnered with NECHAMA (Hebrew for comfort), a Jewish Response to Disaster organization, and United Jewish Communities (UJC) to begin initial discussions for a broad range, national Jewish disaster response framework, using the acronym JVOAD. In 2008, over 30 representatives from various Jewish organizations met to discuss organizational direction and operational objectives. JVOAD is now operating under the auspices of UJC and JHI continues to maintain an integral role in the new entity.
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