Behind The Scenes Of Crown Heights: Interview With Mrs. Chana Goldberg

As part of the “Behind The Scenes Of Crown Heights” Interview series, CrownHeights.info spoke with Mrs. Chana Goldberg, who runs “Rofe Yedid, a medical assistance organization for Shluchim under the auspices of the Merkos302 office.

Q. Thank you Mrs. Goldberg for giving us your time. Can you give us an idea of how the Rofe Yedid organization came about, and what sparked the initial idea?

A. I don’t know if it was one thing.

Let’s start by going back a few years to when we started Chabad on Call. Chabad on Call is a community of Shluchim who service medical centers, and create a warm niche within the hospital setting by providing spiritual and emotional care.

Even then, people kept asking us “are you going to be expanding to referrals or [medical] care?” The thought was daunting and scary since we didn’t have the right people or the right connections, so we didn’t really open our ears to listen to the strong need at the time.

What really got it moving, a little before COVID began, were some Hatzalah members in Crown Heights; Menachem Freeman, Zev Nelkin, and The Gedaliah Society. They had been receiving many calls from different shluchim saying they had urgent medical questions, but didn’t know who to turn to. They would be out there in their own small communities and need a second opinion, or not know if their local hospital was too small for what they needed. What they really pushed for was something more organized to come from Merkos.

That, I think, is where I got involved. Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky asked me to take a look at what the need was and meet with some of the people involved. From there I knew there was a definite need, but I still had no idea where to start.

While doing research, I found that there were incredible organizations out there, but it takes time to research each of them. For example, if someone is diagnosed with Yene Machale everyone knows to contact RCCS. It’s a very well-known organization, and people do that, but when it comes to other things, people do not know about Refuah Helpline or what else is out there. I can tell you first hand – I got to know these incredible organizations – that there are people already doing the work, most just don’t know about them.

We decided that we were not going to recreate the wheel, instead, we wanted to be the address for Shluchim to come to, just like when they need a Seder To Go kit or a CTeen program. We should be there to help guide them, whether they need it for themselves or for a family member.

So we researched and met with different organizations and formed connections with them, including Satmar and Sqver programs, and RCCS. We worked with Hatzalah and The Gedaliah Society, who already had a network, and they helped guide us.

Finally, we said, “We don’t know where this is going to go, let’s just open up a hotline and start taking calls.”

In a certain way, it was done a little blindly, since we did not know what to expect. We didn’t know what type of calls we would get.

The Gedalya Society selected a doctor to work with me, Dr. Shmuli Margolin from Cleveland, OH. He became the ‘Triage guy’. I speak to him when I’m stuck and don’t know who to speak with, and he’ll put me in touch with a doctor from his network. Otherwise, we put it on a WhatsApp group with doctors and Hatzalah members and together coordinate what to do.

Q. Obviously, the organization was built on a need, but as you said, you were not recreating the wheel. So what void did you fill? Are you a sort of directory, or do you also provide a service yourself?

A. If we were going to be just a directory we would have just set up a website with a list of what is out there. We have that research, we did that, but we are much more.

First of all, you need connections to get started with some of these organizations, otherwise it might take some time for someone to call back. Also, some of these organizations only have local connections in the tri-state area, whereas Shluchim may need them worldwide.

Since we already know these organizations, we know which organizations work with each hospital and which ones deal with different doctors. So we’re basically taking a network of people who have connections and extensive knowledge in the medical field, and analyzing each situation that comes up separately to see where we can best direct people.

In other words, it’s mostly support and handholding, like a medical concierge while other times, it may just be a referral.

Right now I am fielding calls myself because we are still in the organization’s first year, analyzing where we are going moving forward. Sometimes it gets very busy. We will definitely have to hire an intake person eventually, but we’ll see how it goes.

Jumping ahead here, but once we are already dealing with medical issues we will also deal with Mental Health. It definitely comes up a lot.

How it works is that when someone calls or emails, I take down the basic information. Sometimes it’s just a referral and I can answer them in five minutes, other times it’s a lot more than that. For example, if it is a new diagnosis, they may not know where to turn.
We direct them who to call, or else we make the initial call and then have them reach out to the shliach. It’s not always referrals, but other situations such as helping a person get into the right hospital or to see the right doctor while they are traveling out of town.

In one incident there was a shliach who was in Crown Heights and was unable to stay with their family. We formed a connection with Bikur Cholim of Crown Heights. They helped with finding an apartment and some of the finances, and we fundraised the rest ourselves

It’s holding their hands and walking them through the process more than just a referral, but each situation is unique.

Q. Do you also help Shluchim financially if they are going through health struggles? Or are you not there yet?

A. Every situation is different.

We had to fly a shliach out of Mexico; it was a very scary situation, and it was going downhill very quickly. They rushed him to a local hospital and were going to intubate him. Thankfully, we were able to fly him out of Mexico to a U.S. hospital less than 10 hours after the initial call, with the help of Rabbi Lazar Lazarov (part of the network of Chabad on Call Shluchim).

We had a problem though. Everything was on hold since he didn’t have health insurance, and the hospital refused to let him come in without either insurance or $100,000 cash.

The network that’s out there is incredible. We were able to provide insurance and Dr. Avi Rosenberg was able to get a trial medication to the hospital through a network of doctors, which literally saved his life.

Another case we had was a father whose child was diagnosed with Asthma and wanted a second opinion. We arranged for him to be in touch with another doctor.

Whether it’s something big or small, it’s knowing that there is someone out there to help when a shliach needs it most.

When it comes to finances, we try to fundraise to cover expenses, such as the apartment for the Shliach in Crown Heights during treatment, or if we want to send a gift to a child who was just diagnosed.
If a shliach is out there alone and in need of help, we will fly someone out there to be with them. For babysitting, household expenses, or something like that we would also help cover.

Q. So how do you see your organization growing into the future?

A. Honestly, I don’t want to see it grow. Unfortunately, people are still suffering, so I’m not sure how to answer that question.

We really just want to be there for Shluchim and help with anything they need in the medical field. Whether it’s mental health or physical health, they should have somewhere to turn for guidance.

Q. Do you, as an organization, put out health advisories to the Shluchim, or do you only work one-on-one on a case-by-case basis?

A. We mostly do one-on-one, but it comes up.

Recently we sent out an email to the shluchim that we were available with advice related to any COVID-19 questions. There is so much out there now that they should know about.

So I guess that was not a real advisory, like the Gedaliah Society’s updates, but perhaps it was an unofficial one. But in the future it’s possible.

Q. Is there any way for an average Lubavitcher to help you, and assist you in your work?

A. It’s hard because we want to protect the privacy of the people who call us. So as far as doing the intake and taking the calls, that’s not really open to everyone.

But when we know of a family or someone going through treatments, perhaps people can help in different ways such as preparing meals.

Once we know where the location is, maybe we can do something like the local community and Bikur Cholim. You have people sending over food, you have someone doing the laundry, and things like that.

These things will likely come up as necessary. Right now we don’t even have the administrative staff to deal with volunteers.

Q. Did the Rebbe ever advocate for something like this, or has it just come up now?

A. Sure! The Rebbe advocated for people to have a Refeh Yedid. There are Shluchim out there who don’t necessarily have connections in whatever specialty they need, so we are trying to tell people to come to us even if it’s just for a second opinion.

There is also another organization we work with, run by Rabbi Chaim Shaul Bruk, where he created a list of doctors in every type of field. So if someone is looking for a second opinion they call him and he connects them with other Shluchim who have personal connections with each doctor.

We use them as well; if someone asks to get a second opinion we put them in touch with that organization. We are working with what’s out there, ensuring each Shliach receives the most effective care and gets the most out of what’s available.

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