Tag: healthcare

CHW marks 100 years

Canadian Hadassah-WIZO (CHW) has been a driving force in the Jewish community for 100 years. Known to many simply as Hadassah, CHW has rebranded in the last decade to be recognized for its full range of activities, using its acronym to also exemplify the work it does for children, healthcare and women in Israel.

Jewish Canadians can take great pride in the many initiatives that have come from the fundraising and determination of CHW women who have helped build the state of Israel.

One of the keystone projects CHW supports is the Hadassim Children and Youth Village, located east of Netanya. Founded in 1947 for European Jewish refugee children, it is one of the largest residential schools in Israel. The school has evolved over the years to house children as young as age 6 who could not safely remain in their homes. These children live in family units, cared for by foster parents who maintain contact with biological parents when appropriate.

With the world refugee crisis, there has been somewhat of a return for Hadassim to its original purpose. As an example, because of antisemitism, more than 60 teens from France have sought refuge at Hadassim through the Na’aleh program, according to CHW national executive director Alina Ianson.

The program, she said, “is an opportunity for Francophone youth to continue their education in their native language. The Na’aleh program has become increasingly important due to the rise of antisemitism, causing many European teenagers to seek out safety and security. CHW Hadassim gives teenagers freedom: freedom to learn, freedom to live, freedom to be Jewish. CHW Hadassim gives teenagers a home again.”

Over the past 100 years, Israel has grown from the dream of a homeland to a high-tech powerhouse. Nonetheless, pressing social issues, particularly for women and children, still exist. Healthcare has changed dramatically but the need for support is arguably more critical because, while there are more life-saving technologies, they can also be quite expensive. For this reason, CHW continues to be as relevant as ever, national president Debbie Eisenberg told the Independent.

Eisenberg highlighted the CHW Vancouver connection. “Four of CHW’s past national presidents have called Vancouver home,” she said. “These visionary past national leaders include Naomi Frankenberg, z”l, Judy Mandelman, Rochelle Levinson and Claudia Goldman. Throughout our 100 year history, CHW has certainly changed the very fabric of Israeli society by supporting essential programs and services for children, healthcare and women in Israel,” she added.

Current Vancouver centre president Stephanie Rusen is proud to head an organization that has made and continues to make such an impact on the lives of people in Israel. Rusen believes that the focus for Vancouver in CHW’s centennial year is the Hadassim Youth Village partly because it exemplifies everything that CHW does right. Those most vulnerable in Israeli society find a home at Hadassim and grow up to meet their potential as active, contributing members of Israeli society.

“CHW Hadassim has been improving the lives of children and families for the last 70 years,” said Rusen. “Many of the children who come to CHW Hadassim are escaping prejudice, persecution, and even violence. Thanks to our generous supporters, as well as the funds raised at last year’s tribute gala, the Claudia Goldman Dormitory Hey at CHW Hadassim was renovated and is now home to 60 students. These children now have a safe place to call home. CHW Vancouver proudly supports CHW Hadassim.”

Rusen has presided over many local changes in how CHW operates. The previous chapter-based format has given way to an organization that plans citywide programs for all ages and interests, while continuing its efforts to fund its projects in Israel. The local annual kick-off event was held on Sunday at the Shaughnessey Golf and Country Club. Entitled “Heroes Among Us,” the event honoured three local women, ranging in age from the mid-20s to mid-80s, who have made a difference in various aspects of the Metro Vancouver community: Courtney Cohen, Lori Yelizarov and Helen Coleman.

For more information on how to become involved with the activities of CHW, visit their website at chw.ca (look for Vancouver centre) or call the office at 604-257-5160.

Michelle Dodek is a freelance writer living in Vancouver.

A healing partnership

Left to right: Bernard Bressler, Bill Barrable, Prof. Yaakov Nahmias, the Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould, Jonathan Miodowski, Dina Wachtel, the Hon. Bruce Ralston and Rick Glumac. (photo from Rick Hansen Institute)

On Aug. 25 in Vancouver, the Rick Hansen Institute (RHI) announced a new partnership with the Hebrew University’s Alexander Grass Centre for Bioengineering. The first of its kind in the world, this partnership will fast-track the development of products designed to improve the lives of people who have been devastated by spinal cord injuries (SCI).

Bioengineering uses scientific concepts and methods to find practical, cost-effective solutions to problems in the life sciences. Researchers investigate ways to regenerate damaged tissue, grow new organs or mimic the systems and processes of the human body with synthetic tools. In the case of individuals with SCI, this means combating the paralysis caused by a serious injury.

According to the RHI, in British Columbia alone, there are 12,000 people living with an SCI. “The economic burden is an estimated $372 million a year for new traumatic spinal cord injuries: this figure includes direct healthcare (59%) as well as indirect morbidity and mortality related (41%) costs,” says the RHI. “Secondary complications such as pressure ulcers, neuropathic pain, urinary tract infections and pneumonia cost an estimated $70 million in direct costs to B.C.’s healthcare system annually.”

The Grass Centre’s Biodesign program teaches researchers, business and bioengineering graduates how to make medical innovations commercially available. Recent innovations at the centre include a device that inserts chest tubes. The device prevents lung collapse in under a minute and saves lives in the battlefield and the emergency room. The centre also has developed pressure-sensing socks that can tell when patients with diabetes are in pain, prevent foot ulcers and communicate health data to smartphones. More than 130 million people suffer from diabetes-related pain worldwide.

Bill Barrable, chief executive officer of the RHI, described Rick Hansen’s long association and warm relationship with Israel. Hansen traveled there on his Man in Motion tour many years ago and he also received an honorary degree from the Hebrew University. Barrable accompanied Hansen on that latter visit.

Barrable spoke of the new partnership as being designed to “grow the next generation of medical research entrepreneurs.” These entrepreneurs will create intellectual property that can be sold commercially within one year, a goal he described as “extraordinary.” In addition to the profound impact it will have on patients, Barrable sees the project as a way to strengthen innovation in British Columbia.

Prof. Yaakov Nahmias is the director of the Grass Centre. After co-founding the Biodesign program at HU with Hadassah Medical Centre and Stanford University, four new medical devices were launched under his leadership – in the program’s first year. Referencing Israel’s reputation as a “start-up nation,” Nahmias touched on the 2009 book Start-up Nation by Dan Senor and Saul Singer, which explores how it is that a small, embattled country like Israel has more tech start-ups than any other. Speaking of the student body at the Grass Centre, Nahmias described a population that is mature, self-sufficient and has a rich life experience. Having completed school and their mandatory military service, Israeli grads also have traveled the world and worked while pursuing their undergraduate studies. He described a group that did not want to continue their research work as academics, but as entrepreneurs. The Biodesign program enabled them to do this. Its multi-disciplinary, team-based approach to medical innovation is also unique, according to Nahmias, “because it leverages the diversity we see in Israel.” The program is host to groups led by Palestinians from East Jerusalem and ultra-Orthodox rabbis alike, he said. The program’s success, he added, was owed to the creativity and talent of this diverse group.

In concert with the fiery, boundary-pushing Israelis, Nahmias said Canadian researchers would bring “people with vision, people who would set the course and know how to treat patients and solve problems in everyday life. But we also want to have agitators, people who would rock the bridge and say, ‘that’s not good enough!’ These are the people we have in Israel. And this is why this partnership is unique.”

B.C. Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology Bruce Ralston spoke highly of Israel’s capacity for innovation. Looking forward to seeing stronger ties develop between the technology sectors of Israel and British Columbia, Ralston said he sees this partnership as a way to “restore and bolster our commitment to research in a way that attracts top-flight talent back to B.C.”

Also joining in the announcement, which was made at the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre, at Vancouver General Hospital was the Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould. In her capacity as federal justice minister, she applauded the new initiative, describing SCI patient care as “a human rights issue.”

Also in attendance was Bernard Bressler, director of the board of Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation. Bressler praised the partners for going beyond academic research to make life-altering technologies. “The partnership creates an environment where creative ideas, difficult problems and entrepreneurial mentorship can interact in a structured way,” he said.

Speaking after the event, John Chernesky, RHI’s consumer engagement lead, commented, “What excites me most is the prospect of new devices that allow people with paralysis to complete ordinary tasks, even something as simple as using an arm to manipulate their environment. Spinal cord injuries can affect every part of a person’s body. The implications [of a program like this] are tremendous.”

Dina Wachtel, executive director of Canadian Friends of Hebrew University, Western Region, said the program created “a living bridge upon which a scientist from Canada will spend time in Israel with the start-up nation and, once they trigger the process, as a team, and have the beginning of a device, they can bring it back to B.C. for further development.”

Shula Klinger is an author, illustrator and journalist living in North Vancouver. Find out more at niftyscissors.com.

Implant first in world

Cardiologist Gil Bolotin checks patient Robert MacLachlan, the first in the world to receive the CORolla implant, at Rambam hospital. (photo by Pioter Fliter/RHCC)

A 72-year-old Canadian man has become the world’s first recipient of an Israeli-developed implant to treat diastolic heart failure, a fairly common condition for which there is no effective long-term treatment.

The minimally invasive surgery was performed on July 26 at Rambam Health Care Campus, a medical centre in Haifa, by a multidisciplinary team led by cardiologists Gil Bolotin, director of cardiac surgery, and Arthur Kerner, senior physician in the interventional cardiology unit.

The implant, called CORolla, was developed by Israeli startup CorAssist Cardiovascular of Haifa. The elastic device is implanted inside the left ventricle of the heart and can improve cardiac diastolic function by applying direct expansion force on the ventricle wall to help the heart fill with blood. The CorAssist technology was invented by Dr. Yair Feld, a Rambam cardiologist, with doctors Yotam Reisner and Shay Dubi.

The patient, Robert MacLachlan, explained that he had run out of treatment options in Canada for his diastolic heart failure. His wife had read about the CORolla implant on the internet and contacted Dr. Karen Bitton Worms, head of research in the department of cardiac surgery at Rambam. MacLachlan’s cardiologist encouraged him to apply to have the experimental procedure in Israel.

Bolotin said that, while many potential applicants were interested in the procedure, no one wanted to be first until MacLachlan came along.

“I am proud that Rambam offers treatments to patients not available anywhere else in the world,” said Dr. Rafi Beyar, director and chief executive officer of Rambam.

The hospital did not comment on the condition of the patient, but, in a video released a month after the procedure, MacLachlan said he already feels better and has noticed that his skin colour looks healthy for the first time in a long time.

The Israel Ministry of Health has authorized up to 10 clinical trials at Rambam to test the efficacy of cardiac catheterization for placement of the CORolla implant. The potential market for the device is large. It is estimated that more than 23 million people worldwide suffer from heart failure, a condition in which the heart fails to pump sufficient oxygenated blood to meet the body’s needs. Approximately half of heart failure patients suffer from diastolic heart failure, in which the left ventricle fails to relax and adequately refill with blood, resulting in a high filling pressure, congestion and shortness of breath. This is the condition for which the CORolla device was invented.

To watch the video about the surgery, which includes an interview with MacLachlan, and how the medical procedure works, visit israel21c.org/haifa-hospital-tests-first-implant-for-heart-failure.

Israel21c is a nonprofit educational foundation with a mission to focus media and public attention on the 21st-century Israel that exists beyond the conflict. For more, or to donate, visit israel21c.org.

Pediatric leaps and bounds

Artist Pnina Granirer signs copies of her book Light Within the Shadows: An Artist’s Memoir at its May 25 launch at Lord Byng High School. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)

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In every community, there are folks who frequently capture the spotlight for their work while others quietly get things done behind the scenes. In our Kibitz & Schmooze profile, we try to highlight members of our community who are doing admirable and mention-worthy work out of view of the general public. If you know of profile subjects who fit this description, please email [email protected].

We all love a quick turnaround, but when it involves a transition from illness to health, it’s especially meaningful. That’s one of the things Erik Swartz loves about his career as a pediatrician at Richmond Hospital, where he attends complicated deliveries, looks after preemies in the neonatal intensive care unit and sees outpatients at the Child Health Centre. “Children get sick very quickly, but they also recover very quickly,” he notes quietly. “It’s very gratifying, as a doctor, to see how quickly their health improves.”

photo - Erik Swartz
Erik Swartz (photo by Lauren Kramer)

Swartz, 43, is a homegrown Vancouverite who attended Vancouver Talmud Torah, Eric Hamber Secondary and then studied pharmacology and medicine at the University of British Columbia. After graduating, he specialized in pediatrics in Edmonton and worked in that city until 2008.

It was a great time, he recalls wistfully. “Our friends there were like family, and the training I got there, the professional environment, was wonderful.”

Swartz, always one to say an enthusiastic “yes!” when opportunity comes a-knocking, also had a weekly segment on Edmonton’s Global Morning News, where he’d answer questions from parents worried about their kids’ health. “For awhile, I was a C-list celebrity,” he says with a laugh.

Family ties and a great job opportunity enticed him back to Vancouver, where he remains today with his wife and two daughters. At work, he wears a number of different hats. When he’s not at Richmond Hospital, you’ll find him at B.C. Children’s, where he works in the pediatric emergency department and attends inpatients at the clinical teaching units. He also heads pediatrics for Vancouver Coastal Health and Providence Health Care, a position that involves overseeing physicians in a wide geographic area – from Lions Gate and St. Paul’s hospitals to clinics further afield in Powell River and Bella Coola. “If a child comes into a hospital in Sechelt and there are issues, we troubleshoot what happened from an administrative point of view,” he explains.

There are “big picture” guys and “small picture” guys in every field, but Swartz is both. He helped bring the Pediatric Early Warning System, PEWS, to the Richmond Hospital emergency room a few years ago. Children admitted to the hospital receive a PEWS score, which determines the level of monitoring and care they’ll need. “It’s our attempt at figuring out which children are going to deteriorate before that happens, so we can mitigate the risk,” he explains. Swartz and his team were the first to use PEWS successfully in an ER setting in British Columbia and, possibly, in all of Canada.

“In a hospital that is not used to looking after many children, the PEWS score is a number that clearly identifies how sick that kid is,” he notes. “We assessed the confidence and knowledge levels of staff before we introduced PEWS and reassessed them after its introduction and, by comparing those results, we can see it’s been a wild success. Because of that, the whole province is wanting to introduce it.”

Swartz’s work is his passion, and his dedication to improving care on a systemic level is remarkable. He decompresses from his days training for half-marathons, but says his life is filled with “aha moments” that make everything seem purposeful and worthwhile. “I’m often called out in the middle of the night when a baby is born with a low heart rate and isn’t breathing,” he reflects. “To do the appropriate things in five to 10 minutes and see the improvements, you feel really satisfied that a few minutes of your life changed the trajectory of another family’s life forever.”

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.

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photo - Art! Vancouver included the work of Johanan Herson (second from the right) and Lauren Morris (third from the right) from May 25 to 27 at Vancouver Convention Centre-West.
Art! Vancouver included the work of Johanan Herson (second from the right in the above photo) and Lauren Morris (third from the right in the photo below) from May 25 to 27 at Vancouver Convention Centre-West. (photos by Cynthia Ramsay)

photo - Lauren Morris at Art! Vancouver 2017. 

photo - Lior Noyman, left, Dan Gadassi and moderator Shula Klinger field questions from the audience after the June 5 screening of a documentary film capturing some of the memories Vancouverites have of the Six Day War.
Lior Noyman, left, Dan Gadassi and moderator Shula Klinger field questions from the audience after the June 5 screening of a documentary film capturing some of the memories Vancouverites have of the Six Day War. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)

 

photo - Noam Vazana was joined by Itamar Erez (not seen in photo) at a Caravan World Rhythms performance at Frankie’s Jazz Club June 7
Noam Vazana was joined by Itamar Erez (not seen in photo) at a Caravan World Rhythms performance at Frankie’s Jazz Club June 7. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)