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My beloved grandpa, aged 97, was intentionally neglected almost to death in the surgery division of the Hadassah medical center located in the Eastern Jerusalem.
He was hospitalized last Tuesday (23/02/2010) during the night, with an acute stomachache, but in lucid mind. There he was diagnosed with an excessive amount of liquid in the urinary bladder due to a prostate disease.
Then, he was placed in a surgery department, where his complaints and ours were systematically ignored for an entire week, not only by the doctors (Drs. Mizrahi, Greenboym and Lorin), but even by the nurses. I was compelled to wage long battles with most of the medical personal in the unit to make them pay a minimal amount of attention to my grandpa. ONLY AFTER APPOINTMENT A MEETING WITH THE HEAD OF THE UNIT, PROFESSOR AHMAD EED (A NON JEWISH DOCTOR), I RECEIVED A SUFFICIENT RHETORIC TOOL TO COMPEL THE ARROGANT DOCTORS TO BEGIN (AT LEAST RELUCTANTLY AND ANGRILY) TO PAY ATTENTION TO MY GRANDPA’S CRITICAL CONDITION.
Meanwhile, his cognitive and physical condition worsened day by day. Already on Wednesday evening he complained of pain in his lower chest, but this was, of course, ignored. Last Thursday he could hardly speak and became seriously disoriented. I alerted the medical personnel that his situation was gravely deteriorating, but my words were as usual dismissed and even outright rejected (For example, Dr. Mizrahi promised to come in 10 minutes, but utterly left the hospital; on other occasion he did examine the grandfather, yet rudely shouted on me). The doctors usually told that all his medical exams and measures were good and did not require any special attention, so that he would be released home soon! However, since Thursday, I was able to discern acute short breathing and liquids accumulating in his lungs.
On Saturday an internist continually tried to perform a CT scan of his lungs, but this was declined because – as a nurse told me – they were reluctant to bother the CT technician at home.
Only on Sunday (28/02/2010) morning, when I met the department’s chief and invited him to see my grandpa, did they begin suspecting the inflammation of the lungs and suggested transferring him from the surgical division to the internist emergency room. I was told to wait a couple of hours. At 1 p.m. I left my grandpa with a private nurse that we hired and went to work. It must be noted that the Israeli Insurance Institute denies payment to the assisting personnel, which my grandpa would usually receive at home, when a senior citizen is hospitalized. The NII justifies this policy under the claim that in the hospital he is under the direct and attentive supervision of the medical staff!
AT 3 P.M. THE PRIVATE NURSE CALLED TO TELL ME THAT AN INTERNIST DOCTOR ASKED TO SEND A MESSAGE THROUGH THE HOSPITAL’S NURSE THAT MY GRANDPA WAS IN A CRITICAL CONDITION AND THAT THEY REQUESTED THE FAMILY ARRIVE IMMEDIATELY. I CALLED MY PARENTS AND OTHER RELATIVES AND REQUESTED THAT THEY COME URGENTLY TO THE HOSPITAL. WE ALSO UPDATED MY GRANDMOTHER (GRANDPA’S WIFE, AGED 93) AND MY SISTER ABROAD. ALL THE FAMILY BEGAN GATHERING FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.
However, when I arrived I saw my grandpa still suffering in the same way in his bed in the surgical unit as before I left. He had no medical personal near him, and it appeared that his condition was deteriorating due only to bureaucratic delay in his treatment and transportation to the internist emergency division.
THE PRIVATE NURSE SAID THAT THE FAMILY WAS SUMMONED TO COME BY DR. ADIR, AN INTERNIST. THEN I RAN TO THE INTERNIST UNIT, FOUND DR. ADIR, BUT HE SAID THAT HE WAS TOO BUSY AND WOULD SPEAK TO ME LATER. AT THIS STAGE I THOUGHT ‘THAT’S TOO MUCH FOR ME!’ THEN I PERFORMED AN UGLY SCENE, BREAKING MY CELL PHONE, THROWING AWAY MY GLASSES AND TEARING MY POUCH. I JUMPED AND FELL DOWN ON THE FLOOR, BEATING THE DOORS, WALLS AND THE FLOOR AND SCREAMING LIKE MAD.
The medical personnel of the internist department come out to watch me. Then a spectacular man in the crowd invited me to a conversation, asking what has happened and how he can help. It was clear by his habitus that this was the head of the department, a professor. He answered this question positively. I told Prof. Heimann that this is the country of occupiers and nothing works here without violence. He was vehemently outraged by my words and tried to defend the Zionist establishment. He insisted that he would help me anyway, without such scenes. He spent plenty of time speaking with me, which after 16 years of living in Israel I found to be incredibly generous behavior for an Israeli medical professor and the head of a department. Finally I was successful in persuading him to go downstairs to see my grandpa. Then I pointed him out to five of my family members, who arrived and stood aside with bleak faces. Prof. Heimann repeatedly apologized for the false alarm they issued; nevertheless he did not stop defending Dr. Adir. Later (on March 2nd), Prof. Heimann even requested that I WOULD apologize before Dr. Adir, as my grandfather was indeed suspected to die on Monday, yet survived due to the God’s will, rather than due to my tough pressure to begin an appropriate medical treatment in the internist unit.
Now, why so??? Why do we deserve such kind of “service” from this state, after we work so hard in this land (said to be best possible regime for the Jews) and pay HIGH taxes to this government? (The state deprives me of around $600 per month). Where do this money go?
And I answer:
FIRST, THIS MONEY DOES NOT GO TO HELP THE NEEDY, NOT TO INCREASE THE PUBLIC QUALITY OF LIFE. INSTEAD NEARLY ALL OF OUR TAXES ARE GOING TO SO CALLED DEFENSE NEEDS, THAT IS THE CONTINUED OCCUPATION AND OPPRESSION OF THE PALESTINIAN POPULATION, IMPRISONED IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORY.
In addition, this hospital is not staffed enough with medical personnel, only because it is situated in the East Jerusalem and is the main medical center for the Palestinian population of Al Quds. However this regime does not wish to provide the Palestinians with an appropriate medical care.
I want to summarize this piece of writing with my firm belief that Israel is not the best regime for Jews these days.
