Perhaps one of Israel’s best kept secrets is Bnei Brak’s Mayanei HaYeshua (MYMC) Medical Center, located in the heart of Tel Aviv’s medical triangle, surrounded by Ichilov, Beilinson and Tel Hashomer Hospitals, yet serving its very own distinct and unique function, being the only hospital in Eretz Yisrael and perhaps the world that is run totally in adherence to halacha. They maintain an unparalleled adherence to halacha, which results in patient dignity remaining uncompromised, truly a unique combination in a modern medical facility.

The facility is run under the constant supervision of Gedolei Yisrael Shlita, proving that medicine and halacha do not clash, but exist in a harmonious relationship which results in quality patient care, resulting in an environment that address body and soul alike.

YWN-Israel recently visited the medical center, at the behest of Jonny Cline, the facility’s director of Resource Development. Quite honestly, the interview began in Jerusalem a number of months ago, but Cline would not permit me to ‘go to print’ without visiting the facility, confident that experiencing the medical center rather than just benefiting from the information and slide presentation would have a major impact on the story – and he was ever so correct.

Click HERE for photos of the Hospital.

To begin with, one enters the main entrance and is greeted by a sign for the delivery room and waiting areas for men and women, of course separate. It is perhaps the first of many signs that this facility is what the late Lubavitcher Rebbe zt”l and the Steipler Rebbe zt”l both called a “Beis Refuah”, instructing talmidim not to use the term Beis Cholim, and that really sums up the driving force behind this hidden Bnei Brak wonder.

This coming Elul will launch the facility’s 20th anniversary celebratory year, which will be marked by a series of events. Founded by Dr. Moshe Rothschild, who still serves as president, today MYMC is under the direction of Dr. Yoram Liwer, DBA, who assumed the role of CEO about six years ago. Prof. Moti Ravid is the medical director, and both of these gentleman work hand-in-hand with Rabbi Yosef Hoffner, the medical center’s rav for over 14 years, hailing from Monsey a long time ago, making aliyah in 1967, deciding to head from the NY area to Eretz HaKodesh.

The rav works with the Vaad HaRabbonim, which owns the medical center, a vaad comprised of HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Halevy Wosner Shlita, HaGaon HaRav Nissim Karelitz Shlita, HaGaon HaRav Yitzchok Zilberstein Shlita, and HaRav Moshe Shaul Klein Shlita, which maintains a pulse on the day-to-day operation of the medical facility, directly involved in many critical decisions which in other institutions are left to the medical and administrative staff exclusively. I will discuss the seamless integration of the rabbonim and the medical professionals later in the article.

LOOKING TO GROW IN THE FUTURE

Today, MYMC houses 251 beds, but expansion plans are far from modest, realizing the needs of the future and the critical shortage of hospital beds nationwide. Once constructed, the addition of the new tower will bring the hospital’s capacity to 1,200 beds. There is much more involved in the project other than additional beds, but I will leave this for a future article. There are ongoing efforts to construct the new tower, which will consist of four stories underground, preparing it for wartime activity R”L, as well as 13 stories above ground that will offer a comprehensive array of medical services. The current building will then become a comprehensive medical facility catering to the needs of women.

MATERNITY UNIT

It’s not often that one sees a sign “First Class Maternity Ward” in a medical facility, but the newest wing in MYMC is just that, as the sign indicates. Cline explains that every medical facility receives funding from Bituach Leumi (National Insurance Institute) for births. While most hospitals offer moms a two day stay, MYMC adds an extra night. Many other hospitals have built in the ‘hotel’ option for those willing and capable of paying the extra fee, but MYMC includes the extra day, and the ‘first class service’ as I opt to call it, at no additional fee, so for mom and infant, it’s simply an all-around winning situation.

The newest maternity floor located on the 7th floor, was designed by the same architect who did the Dan Hotels. Believe me when I tell you his special flare for design is evident to all. The colorful paintings, which are even on display in stairwells, add a great feel, and that unwanted yet seemingly indefatigable hospital smell was somehow absent. Honestly, you do not have the infamous ‘hospital smell’ on any floor. The atmosphere is one of serenity and you are compelled to relax as the tranquility that surrounds you does indeed penetrate the soul. The noise that is expected in a general hospital setting does not seem to have penetrated the walls of this institution.

There are so many ‘little things’ that truly make the difference, and we will mention some to drive the point home, like the “TaShma” machines, which I thought were ATMs (cash machines as the Israelis call them) placed strategically on every floor. In essence, a patient may sign out [free of charge] an MP3 player, and then listen to the vast array of Torah content available on the machines.

Cline told me they calculated that if one were to listen to the available content 24/7 for three weeks, one would not exhaust the vast index of Torah shiurim available, once again, intended to make one’s stay a more relaxing and meaningful one, at no extra charge. One constantly sees the hand of the Gedolim in the day-to-day affairs of the facility, and it is simply a role model for all medical centers in Eretz Yisrael.

70% of the patients are from the area, with the same number being shomer shabbos, but there are many patients traveling from as far away as Yerucham in the south and Haifa in the north, as well as from the center and other areas, those seeking the quality care which is the outward manifestation of MYMC’s Kedushat Chaim policy. I am told Dr. Rothschild has always told his colleagues that MYMC was founded “not because of shabbos and not because of kashrus, but because of Kedushat Chaim”. He has done a splendid job bringing this noble sentiment into day-to-day practice.

KASHRUS

The startling number of hechsherim that exist in the frum world today is testimony to the different emphasis placed on kashrus in the different communities, whether in the litvish or chassidic walks of life, each placing an accent on different areas, manifesting itself in the form of unique chumros.

The rabbonim who make the decisions for MYMC realized that this would be the case here too, and as such, the decision was made to operate under MYMC’s own in-house hechsher, Badatz Eida Chareidis Yerushalayim ingredients prepared under the supervision of Rav Hoffner and Rav Moshe Shaul Klein.

Needless to say this hechsher incorporates the chumros of many agencies towards satisfying all patients and visitors. R’ Hoffner explained a number of examples, which includes Rav Wosner’s strict policy towards classifying cooking as ‘bishul yisrael’, insisting on only shomer shabbos cooks, which is the case here in MYMC. The level of bishul yisrael is suitable to Sefardim and Ashkenazim alike, and this is just one small example of the measures taken to make everyone feel at home.

RATED HIGH AMONG THE EXPERTS

While MYMC is not affiliated with the Clalit HMO, it was rated near the top of the HMO’s patient satisfaction survey of hospitals around the country, prompting the HMO to inform MYMC officials even though the survey was primarily a self-monitoring HMO endeavor.

It appears that MYMC crosses many a standard barrier in earning the praise of organizations, unsolicited praise, for there is an awareness that patient care void of political considerations is the overriding theme, of course in total compliance with halacha and rulings of Gedolei Yisrael Shlita.

A LOOK AT ADHERENCE TO HALACHA

I only spent a few hours in the hospital so obviously, I cannot begin to detail the long list of innovations implemented to increase adherence to halacha.

Some examples however include the expensive and unique ‘call system’ used by patients to alert a nurse that s/he is in need of assistance. In a regular medical center, one activates a buzzer or bell, relying on electricity. The poskim for MYMC feared that many of the patients would hesitate using the system on shabbos, conducting an internal halachic debate if their needs justify the chilul shabbos.

As such, a pneumatic call system was installed, one that lifts a shade from a light bulb and spins a device at the nursing station, thereby alerting staff without involving chilul shabbos. When the shade is lifted the bulb lights up. On shabbos, the bulb remains lit and is only visible when the pneumatic system is activated. Once again, avoiding potential chilul shabbos and alleviating the patient’s need to hesitate to activate the call system.

There is a special elevator used R”L when one passes away, to transport the niftar to the tahara area. As soon as someone is niftar, assigned staff members alert the hospital so kohanim can leave. Usually, they are permitted reentry in about 20-30 minutes, since the tahara room is halachically a separate structure. The preparations for a levaya are taken care of and the body is readied for kvura in accordance to halacha.

KOVOD FOR THE PATIENTS AND FAMILIES ALIKE

Rav Hoffner could not place enough emphasis on the efforts made to honor life, and to take the family into consideration at all times, especially when a patient nears his final moments in this world.

The rav explains if one is truly near the end, a minyan is assembled at the patient’s bed and shema is recited. Tehillim are recited and everything possible is done to ensure that the family realize that medically and spiritually, the patient received the best care available.

Rav Hoffner explained there is never a case where a physician pronounces a patient dead without rabbinical involvement – it just does not work that way in MYMC. They are a team and that is how doctors and rabbis function.

Talking about kovod for patients and family, the rav added that it is a commonplace occurrence to see prominent rabbonim and gedolim in the hallways almost daily, coming in for routine tests or medical procedures. He explains at times, he can tune in to their pre-procedural stress and he will tell the nurse to call his cell phone 5 minutes ahead of the rav’s entering for the procedure, and in the interim, take the rav to the beis medresh to deliver a shiur to one of the three kollelim, a move that is a win-win situation for all.

CRITICAL CARE

The intensive care unit is comprised of individual rooms, not beds separated by curtains, once again to provide an extra measure of privacy and dignity to patients and their families.

There is also a critical care unit, not an ICU, for long-term intubated patients, who in many cases would be pronounced dead in a standard medical facility. In MYMC, they will remain for as long as HaKadosh Baruch Hu determines, no questions asked, receiving the care that one would expect, and that they are indeed entitled to.

DELIVERY, MATERNITY & PREEMIES

The delivery and maternity suites as discussed above are truly worthy of praise. Those moms who require special care, or in cases that infants require an ICU, preemie ward or interim care station are on a different floor, always placing mom close to her child, never having to take an elevator to reach the nursery/ICU. The preemie ward has 16 stations and it is expanding too.

MYMC averages 900 births a month, ranking third in the nation. The hospital boasts an extremely low percentage of C-section deliveries – the lowest in Israel, less than half than the national average. It was explained to me that the “progress of the birthing process dictates the pace” not the need to evacuate a delivery room or the end of a midwife’s shift. If mom and fetus are not in danger, natural delivery is the preferred route, and the stats back this up.

Once in active labor or the imminent delivery stage, mom is taken to her private room and that becomes the delivery room too. While standard in N. America perhaps, this is not the case in many Israeli hospitals, with the woman having to transfer as birth becomes imminent.

The husband is at her side until near birth, when it is halachically recommended that he not remain, and he only needs to move about 1.5 meters (5 feet) behind a curtain which is there just for him. He and his wife can communicate, and at the appropriate time, the curtain is opened.

4TH FLOOR – KOLLELIM

On the fourth floor one finds internal medicine but more interesting for this article is the beis medrash, home to three kollelim. One of the three is headed by Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein Shlita, an undisputed expert on medicine and halacha as well as medical ethics and halacha. He leads the shiurim and there are also chavrusa, physicians and rabbonim, discussing real cases.

Once every six weeks or so, Rav Zilberstein brings real cases that have been researched in-depth and decided upon, and approved by his father-in-law, Maran Rav Yosef Sholom Elyashiv Shlita. The Rav’s shiur is given in his shul in the Ramat Elchanan neighborhood, adjacent to MYMC, and the actual writing of the piskei halacha takes place in the Rav’s Holon beis medrash. The shiurim are attended by prominent members of the Torah and medical communities. I like to refer to this process as Halachic Grand Rounds, where the Torah and medical experts debate real cases, dissect the facts and realities of modern-day medicine, and ultimately, arrive at a p’sak which receives the approval of R’ Elyashiv Shlita.

This beis medresh is grooming the next generation of experts, the poskim who will address the questions posed by the ever- modernizing medical community. At MYMC, there are no conflicts, for medicine has found its place under the Torah umbrella, with the doctors realizing it is not a matter of compromising, but rather that education and understanding brings them all to an awareness and ability to work in unison towards ultimate patient care. They realize that halacha in no way compromises patient care, but quite the contrary. What makes the situation even more potent from my perspective is the fact that many of the physicians are not necessarily shomer shabbos, but they have come to appreciate this unique set up.

HOW DID YOU GET ALL THESE PROFESSORS?

At one point, we walked by the offices of department heads and senior officials. I read the signs and was compelled to ask “How did you get so many professors?”

Cline gave me a big smile, perhaps, tipping me off that my question was expected. He explained that state law mandates forced retirement for physicians in government hospitals at 65. MYMC realized this and began recruiting the professors, the heads of the major institutions with decades of experience under their belts.

Baruch Hashem, many responded to the effort and have since built outstanding departments in MYMC, which remains all too pleased to benefit from their careers and senior positions.

PREVENTION – MAMMOGRAPHY

It was not too long ago that statistics of those contracting ‘the illness” in Bnei Brak was alarmingly high among women, much higher than the national average. MYMC stepped in and evaluated the situation among the frum women of Bnei Brak, realizing special accommodations and education was required.

The mammography clinic enjoys its own entrance, preventing the need for women to enter via the hospital’s main entrance. As he showed me the area, Mr. Cline explained “you and I cannot pass this line on the ground”.

Only females are permitted past that designated point; that includes medical and clerical staff, as well as maintenance and anyone else operating in the mammography center.

Seeking to encourage women to come in for early exams, R’ Wosner Shlita, R’ Nissim Karelitz Shlita and others signed a p’sak halacha that they do so, realizing the life-saving benefits associated with early detection. The hospital then undertook a phone campaign, telephoning women in the age bracket of those who should be checked and slowly, the process became acceptable. This tzedoka-funded effort was compelled by the concern of the rabbonim who felt the outreach program was warranted, since this was nothing short of saving lives.

In some cases, husbands were hesitant to have their wives come in. Those husbands were invited in to see the written p’sak, and at times, the rabbonim and doctors consulted with husbands who were well-intentioned, but needed an education as to the need for early detection. Now Baruch Hashem, the statistics for that illness are almost down to the national norm, and efforts are continuing in earnest.

PATIENT DIGNITY

I do not think there is a person alive who has undergone a medical test who has forgotten the discomfort associated with hospital gowns, those unwanted garments that compel us to compromise tznius standards, our dignity. Well, this is not the case in MYMC, where patients have special gowns that were designed to accommodate the medical realities involved in physicians having to examine a patient, as well as the paramount Jewish concept of modesty, once again proving the two needn’t conflict with one another, as we have been led to believed based on all other hospitals.

In short, Kedushas Chaim is what best defines MYMC, this hidden marvel that truly stands alone among the greats, masterfully combining the most stringent halachic dictates with the best modern-day medicine has to offer, placing patient dignity alongside stable vital signs, exhibiting a tenacious unwillingness to compromise on either, resulting in a formula that is truly a Kiddush Hashem, setting a new standard in Jewish medicine. MYMC understands that treating a patient must involve addressing both the body and the soul, and separating one from the other will result in undesirable consequences.

I strongly suggest that the next time you or your organization visits Eretz Yisrael, perhaps contact Jonny Cline first and arrange to stop in, you will not be disappointed.

Mr. Cline can be reached at [email protected] or +972-3-577-5425.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)