Posted on 11/08/23
On October 7th, the Jewish community was turned upside down upon hearing the news of the horrific massacre in Israel. As hundreds of thousands reservists were called to return to the IDF, it became clear that hospitals and medical facilities would halt routine medical care. Many physicians were called to serve, and hospitals needed to plan for the potential influx of casualties. In America, many of us wondered how we could help the war effort and support our brothers and sisters on the front lines. JOWMA (Jewish Orthodox Women’s Medical Association) immediately sprung into action on several initiatives to support our brothers and sisters in Israel.
The Jewish Orthodox Women's Medical Association is a 501c-3 trusted public health organization in the Orthodox Jewish community. JOWMA serves as a unique resource and liaison between the community and healthcare stakeholders from government, medicine, and the public health establishment throughout the United States and beyond. JOWMA is supported by a network of >500 Jewish women physician volunteers including specialists in nearly every field of medicine, with thousands of supporters worldwide.
Dr. Mira Hellmann-Ostrov is a gynecologic oncologist and JOWMA founding board member from Passaic, NJ. She is leading the JOWMA Medical Mission to Israel, which is sending volunteer U.S.-based physicians to serve in Israeli hospitals. Dr. Hellman-Ostrov and Dr. Sahar Wertheimer (a reproductive endocrinology and fertility physician from California, and JOWMA Physician Advisory Board member) opened a “call for volunteers” for the JOMWA medical mission, and within 10 minutes, over 30 physicians had signed up. The remarkable show of solidarity from Jewish doctors was overwhelming, necessitating creation of an ever-growing waitlist due to the surge in requests from physicians wanting to contribute.
Dr. Hellman-Ostrov shared, “We have come together to provide medical relief to Israelis and Israeli hospitals. Right after the war broke out and casualties were rising and people were sent off to the reserves, there was a shortage of healthcare professionals in Israel. This is who we are. This is what JOWMA does. Working directly with the Israel Ministry of Health, we used our immense network to get physicians to Israel to assist in the hospitals and trauma training sessions. Some of our physicians are even trying to get as close to the battlefield as possible!”
On October 30th, the first group of physicians from the Medical Mission flew to Israel to volunteer. Dr. Miriam "Mimi" Knoll, co-founder/CEO of JOWMA, shared, “The JOWMA medical mission to Israel is bringing some of the top specialist physicians in the U.S. to fill the gaps in routine and critical medical care as a result of the war, and supporting trauma training to Israeli physicians, IDF units, and civilians." This first group of physicians were placed at Barlizai Medical Center in Ashkelon, and in Ziv Medical Center, in Safed, in coordination with Israel Ministry of Health and Scott Goldstein from EVP, Emergency Volunteer Project. Dr. Hellman-Ostrov noted that this has been a very strong alliance to expedite the process of getting physicians to where they are needed most, providing security for our brothers and sisters in Israel and providing safe transports for our physicians.
Dr. Dov Frankel (Baltimore, MD), an Emergency Medicine physician, was placed in Ashkelon to support Barzilai Medical Center. As he boarded his flight he shared, “I am flying solely with my hands, my head and my stethoscope to support the war effort”. His motivation? “The Kohanim duchen because when Moshe said “Mi La’Hashem Ailai”, the Kohanim responded to the call. Every person has an opportunity of “Mi La’Hashem Ailai'' and the ability to respond and everything will fall into place. I speak English, Hebrew and French and I am an emergency trauma physician. This is what I do.”
Dr. Eli Bennett, an emergency medicine physician from New York, has been stationed in Tzfat at Ziv Hospital near the Lebanon border. He shares, “I am incredibly grateful to JOWMA for coordinating this effort to help my brothers and sisters in Israel.”
The medical mission is sending more physicians over the next few weeks to work at Barzilai Medical Center, Ziv Medical Center, and other hospitals. Notably, JOWMA is the first medical mission to send a Pediatric Surgeon to Israel during the war- Dr. Avraham Schlager from Boca, Florida is flying to Israel to work at Schneider’s Hospital.
Amidst the ongoing challenges of the war, a common dilemma that has been developing has been that supplies are either not usable by the army due to certification processes, or not arriving in an efficient manner to the people who need it most. JOWMA initiated another effort called “Boots on the Ground,'' led by volunteers Dr. Shuli Kulak (Pediatrician) and her husband, Dr. David Kulak (Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility) who made aliyah and live in Ra’anana Israel, to raise funds for equipment. In less than a month the funds were raised and the equipment was delivered by Drs. Kulak personally. Soldiers on the receiving end expressed, “This is a life saver, an actual life saver.” (You can see these videos on JOWMA’s instagram page, @JOWMA_org).
Dr. Shuli Kulak is a pediatrician by training who moved to Israel four years ago and works as an executive at U.S.-based biotech company. As soon as the war broke out, Dr. Kulak and her professional network in Israel sprung into action to create 8400 The Health Network with aMoon venture fund and Brothers in Arms to create MedMatch, a medical equipment task force.
Everyone here in Israel is using their unique set of skills to help the country,” Dr. Kulak says. “Fighters are fighting, cooks are cooking. What I can do is leverage my medical knowledge and large network in the U.S. and Israel. What we are doing in our MedMatch task force is consolidating and prioritizing medical equipment needs across strategic hospitals in Israel and matching those needs with U.S. hospitals, large pharmaceutical and med device companies and other donors who are able to provide or fund desperately-needed equipment. We’ve had some great success thus far bringing excess stock from the U.S. to hospitals hard hit in the south.”
JOWMA is supporting the war effort on another front by providing medical trauma simulation trainings to physicians and IDF personnel in Ichilov Hospital, led by JOWMA volunteer Dr. Shevi Kassai, a trauma surgeon from Denver. These medical simulations provide hands-on trauma training to enhance preparedness and response. Additional trainings by JOWMA volunteers will be held at Assuta Medical Center.
Dr. Shevi Kassai, a trauma-NICU care surgeon from Denver, Colorado, expressed that she is grateful to be able to do something on the ground for our brothers and sisters on the ground in Israel. “We want everyone in Israel to be prepared for what may come next, from a disaster management standpoint, from a ‘stop-the-bleed’ standpoint, so that any physician in the country is ready for what is thrown at them. So I am motivated to play a role in disaster management and emergency preparedness.”
JOWMA is proud to support our brothers and sisters in Israel by mobilizing a strong and dedicated network of physicians to save lives during these trying times. To learn more about JOWMA’s work, please visit www.JOWMA.org or email info@jowma.org
