SHAAREI ZEDEK MEDICAL CENTER Israel: A Mosaic of Culture and Religions

SHAAREI ZEDEK MEDICAL CENTER   

Israel: A Mosaic of Culture and Religion

Shaarei Zedek  -- translated, the Biblical term means “Gates of Righteousness.” The hospital was officially opened in January 1902, financed by Jewish philanthropists from around the world. A hospital spokesperson took us around and shared these facts – the hospital is a 500 bed facility, 1,300,000 square foot complex, consisting of 14 linked buildings – with more expansion in the works. Walking through the hospital, one immediately is aware that Shaarei Zedek reflects Jerusalem’s diverse populations with medical staff and patients of every race, religion and nationality. People in the halls, elevators and wards are from every walk of life within the State of Israel – secular Jews in shorts, Arabs covered from head to toe pushing carriages, Ultra-Orthodox Jews dressed in the black hats and coats of another era, tourists in jeans with cell phones. 

Recently a delegation of black South Africans visited Shaarei Zedek and saw the mosaic of patients, doctors and staff from different backgrounds all working together at the hospital. They remarked how Israel had nothing in common with the former South Africa with its laws of apartheid separating the races. All patients and their families share the same space, the same compassionate treatment and the same hopes for recovery.

Shaarei Tzedek Hospital not only reflects the typically high quality of Israeli medical care, but also dramatically demonstrates Israel’s openness and capacity to care for all people from every background imaginable.

Photographing patients was strictly forbidden. However, a series of vignettes can help convey what is so unique about this hospital.

1.   The hospital is built on ten floors. But the lower three are underground and house the most essential medical facilities – operating theaters, radiology units, emergency room, pharmacy, etc. Why? Not in response to construction requirements but to allow the hospital to operate even in times of military attack on Israel.

2.   In the lobby near the elevators to the Emergency Room, one reads a plaque in memory of Dr. David Applebaum,  Dr. Applebaum taught Americans medical crisis management in the aftermath of 9/11. He also taught Arab para-medics how to care for emergency patients in their communities. Most victims of knife attacks and bombings by terrorists in Jerusalem are treated at Shaarei Zedek because it is close to the Old City and commercial districts. Sadly, Dr. Applebaum, the head of Emergency Medicine at Shaarei Zedek, was killed in a Palestinian terror attack in a coffee shop near his home in Jerusalem. 

3.   In the children’s ward, many approaches are used to provide the most compassionate treatment possible for these young patients. A regular school program takes place, adapted for the need of children in wheelchairs, on IV’s, etc. The teacher to student ratio was close to one:one. An entire room, actually several rooms are devoted to pets – enabling children, who often have not been introduced to animals as pets, to overcome their fears on the way to helping them overcome fears related to their treatment program. Pediatric staff has found pet therapy to be very effective. The visitor bumps into clowns strolling the halls, stopping to focus on an individual child in a wheelchair, blowing up a balloon and twisting into the form of an animal to leave with the child.

 The underground parking area is prepared and ready to become a decontamination site in case of chemical attack. Green curtains hang from the ceiling to give patients privacy if they need to go through these protocols as the result of being exposed to chemical weapons.

We visited a pediatric renal dialysis unit, a tough place to see since all these children have chronic conditions. We were told that several years ago almost all the children were from Ultra Orthodox or Muslim families -- communities which closely in-marry. Soon thereafter, genetic testing was developed to give parents data and allow them to avoid this inherited disease. Jewish religious leaders approved the use of the testing regimen. Therefore, Orthodox families no longer bear children with this renal disorder and create their families through the use of IVF. However, as we were given to understand, the Muslim leaders have not authorized the use of these preventative procedures, so the children we saw in the pediatric dialysis unit were primarily or exclusively from Muslim families.

6.   How are emergency patients treated? If an emergency occurs in an Arab neighborhood, the patient is taken by the Red Crescent ambulance to a local Arab hospital. If higher level care is needed and not available in the Arab Hospital, a Magen David Adom ambulance is dispatched to bring the Arab patient over to Shaarei Zedek for more advanced treatment. It may be an inefficient system, but most important it works!                                 

 

Plaque in memory of David Applebaum

David Applebaum, late head of the Emergency Department

Colorful walls of the Pediatric Department

Magen David Adom, ambulance given by supporters in the United Kingdom

How to get around the hospital - color coded

Plans for Shaarei Zedek expansion

Plans for high-tech radiological diagnostic and treatment center

Construction as Shaarei Zedek expands

Shaarei Tzedek Hospital  reflects the high quality of Israeli medical care and dramatically demonstrates Israel’s openness and capacity to care for people of all races and religions.