''Catastrophic': The hospitalization system operating from Mea Shearim is collapsing

January 19, 2021   

The underground home hospital system of the Hasdei Amram association, operating from the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem, is collapsing due to a severe shortage of doctors - which directly affects seriously ill patients. Thinking about a good career and a respectable livelihood? Here we open the door for you According to a report by Hanan Greenwood in Israel Hayom, a non-profit organization that deals with home hospitalizations recently urgently appealed to the Ministry of Health to allow them to bring in doctors from other countries, funded by an anonymous donor. However, at present, it seems that this will not happen due to the ministry's opposition to pirate medicine. The incidence of the coronavirus in Jerusalem, especially in the ultra-Orthodox sector, is soaring. On Monday, there were more than 15,000 patients in the capital, and about a thousand more patients are added every day - half of them from the ultra-Orthodox sector. According to the report, in Mea Shearim, medical officials are encountering another problem: some patients refuse to go to hospitals, both due to rumors and claims from parties not responsible for the treatment being provided in the medical centers and due to opposition to state institutions. The people of Chasdei Amram are fighting these rumors and convincing patients to come to hospitals, but one can only assume that some are risking their lives due to their resistance to going to hospitals. The health system has mixed feelings about the association's hospitalization system. On the one hand, the fact that patients are treated in their homes eases the load on the coronavirus wards, but on the other hand, it cannot be monitored and may carry a high level of hidden morbidity. At the same time, officials at the Ministry of Health say that a significant portion of the patients who come from homes to hospitals are in a difficult situation and are very difficult to treat, unlike a patient whose condition deteriorates in the medical center. On the other hand, Chasdei Amram and other associations that treat patients at home claim that they provide patients with a service that is not provided in hospitals, and without occupying a bed in a medical center. However, in the meantime, as mentioned, the association is having difficulty coping with the huge influx of patients. A source involved in the field told Israel Hayom: "The situation is catastrophic. Additional oxygen generators are being purchased every day, but the significant shortage is in doctors, also because the doctors are all busy treating patients in the medical centers. Therefore, it is not possible to provide doctor services to all the patients, and therefore to treat them." The solution right now is to send more and more patients, who were previously hospitalized at home, to the medical centers, which is reflected in an increase in occupancy in the Corona wards. At the same time, volunteers are trying to recruit doctors.