JCRC collaborative saves life of Jewish newborn in Ukraine
By Lorne Bell
The Jewish Advocate
When Chana Kaminetsky became pregnant with her eighth child, she decided to have her baby at the local women's clinic instead of one of New York's reputable hospitals, where her previous seven children were delivered. It was a bold decision – and a telling one – because Chana and her husband, Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetsky, live in the poverty-stricken city of Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, a place where quality medical care did not exist 15 years ago.
"Everything that could go wrong did, but thanks to the [Corky Ribakoff] Women's Clinic, the delivery was safe," said Rabbi Kaminetsky.
The women's clinic and the nearby pediatric clinic that helped save the Kaminetskys' son are the result of the Dnepropetrovsk Kehillath Project, a 16-year-old collaborative between Boston and Ukraine, run by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, which has transformed health care in the former Soviet city. The program receives annual financial support from Combined Jewish Philanthropies for programs in health care, education and social services, and millions of dollars in funding and equipment from Boston philanthropists and hospitals.
"The nightmarish stories we heard 10 and 15 years ago were really startling for us," said Nancy Kaufman, executive director of JCRC. "After the breakup of the Soviet Union, we said, 'OK, we've succeeded in getting many people out, but some Jews are staying, so let's be part of rebuilding Jewish life in the 21st century.'"
And the partnership between the two cities has also strengthened the Jewish community at home, according to Barry Shrage, president of CJP.
"We are very involved and concerned with Jewish identity all over the world, which is why we decided not just to send money but to become directly involved," said Shrage. "We think it is a very powerful way of building Jewish peoplehood."
Almost two decades after the program began, the Kaminetsky's newborn son is a testament to its success. Yosef Yitzhak Kaminetsky was born on Dec. 2, and his parents have nothing but praise for the project and the people that made what they called their Chanukah "miracle" possible.
"Tens of thousands of women have been helped here, but at the end of the day, it felt like it was all for me," said Rabbi Kaminetsky. "Everything that Boston did here medically was all used – we needed everything. It was unbelievable."
Kaminetsky is the spiritual leader of Dnepropetrovsk, but he has also played an integral role in facilitating the communal exchange of services, training and funding between the two cities, according to Dr. David Link, chief of pediatrics at Cambridge Health Alliance and Mt. Auburn Hospital and a member of the Boston Dnepropetrovsk Clinic Board.
"I cannot give sufficient praise for what [Rabbi Kaminetsky] has done," said Link. "His ability to muster the forces, coordinate them and execute is just unbelievable, and he does it with humility."
Like Kaminetsky, Link has worked on the Dnepropetrovsk Kehillath Project since its inception. Together with Dr. Benjamin Sachs, former chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital and the current dean of Tulane Medical School, he has helped to bring much-needed medical training, equipment and facilities to the struggling Ukrainian city.
“There is now the capability to take care of premature and at-risk newborns with first-rate equipment, doctors and nurses,” said Link. “[Dnepropetrovsk] came from being very behind on contemporary optimal care to well into it, but not quite there yet.”
The goal of the program, according to Sachs, is to train doctors in Dnepropetrovsk in the latest advances in medicine. Doctors, residents and researchers from Harvard Medical School, Dana Farber, Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Beth Israel Deaconess have traveled back and forth between the two cities to share their expertise with doctors and students at the Dnepropetrovsk Medical Academy.
“Education was always the goal,” said Sachs. “There were 20,000 women and children a year in our [Dnepropetrovsk] facilities, but we have trained a whole group of physicians who have influenced the standard of care in the city and beyond.”
The most significant changes in the city’s health care include a revamped vaccination program for children, preventative medical care for women, and significant advances in pediatric surgery. The project has also gained credibility with the Dnepropetrovsk Oblast government, which recently authorized funding for additional vaccinations to help doctors reach their goal of immunizing 10,000 children over the next four years.
But despite these accomplishments, additional funding is still needed, and the program’s success is hampered by widespread poverty and a lack of federal money and resources.
“There have been dramatic changes,” said Sachs. “But it is not a wealthy society, and so technologies are limited.”
Added Kaminetsky: “Unless you are at the Kehillath Project [clinics], medicine here is like it was 50 years ago in the U.S. We have a long way to go.”
