Hospital’s Sabbath House Aids Observant Visitors

Soon after Lisa Wadler’s 1-year-old granddaughter Chana was rushed to the emergency room with a raging fever, she learned that an overnight hospital stay would be necessary.

As the Sabbath was approaching, the family, gathered at the hospital, became more anxious over what they would do. That’s when Chana’s pediatrician told Wadler about the Sabbath House, recently opened adjacent to the hospital in Mineola.

That night, while Chana’s infection was brought under control and her parents sat by her bedside, Wadler, her husband and son stayed at the Winthrop University Hospital Sabbath House.

“They had thought of everything,” Wadler recalled. “It was clean and roomy, there was food waiting in the refrigerator and even a dispenser with pre-cut toilet paper.”

Wadler is among a handful of observant family members of patients at Winthrop University Hospital, who has stayed at the hospital’s Sabbath House, located adjacent to the hospital campus. Believed to be the first such bikur cholim accommodations on Long Island, the Sabbath House opened in July, offering comfort and familiarity to the families of observant Jewish patients at the Mineola hospital.

“Bikur cholim,” Hebrew for “visiting the sick,” is a term encompassing a wide range of activities performed by an individual or group to provide comfort and support to people who are ill, homebound, isolated or otherwise in distress.

At Winthrop University Hospital, in the heart of Nassau County, the idea for a Sabbath House was born when hospital president and CEO, John F. Collins, was visiting a friend at a Manhattan hospital and noticed a sign for a Sabbath elevator.

His first question, “What is that?” led to the second: “Why don’t we have one?”

This prompted the development of a task force, led by Amy Wolin, the hospital’s assistant vice president of patient financial services, to identify the needs of the growing observant community — patients, their families and physicians — and to determine how the hospital could help to eliminate barriers that they faced.

Wolin said that the first changes were the addition of glatt kosher food in the coffee shop, the ready availability of Sabbath candles, tallit and tefillin, and the installation of a Sabbath elevator in the hospital that would automatically stop on every floor during the Sabbath.

But there was also a need for a place where observant family members of Winthrop patients could stay if their loved one was hospitalized during the Sabbath or holidays. Previously, they had been invited to stay at the home of Rabbi Anchelle Perl, head of the Congregation Beth Sholom Chabad of Mineola, the synagogue closest to the hospital. But Rabbi Perl recognized that as the number of observant families was growing, his home was no longer sufficient. The solution: Winthrop University Hospital donated a house, formerly used for medical students, to be designated as the Sabbath House.

The house was renovated to accommodate up to five families at one time. The kitchen was fully equipped for kosher food handling, lights were set on a timer and a key box was installed outside to avoid the need to carry a key. The house was filled with prayer books, candles and everything necessary to meet the highest standards for the most religious families, Wolin said.

The hospital, with the approval of its Board, financed all repairs and renovations, at a cost of $65,000, and $19,000 a year to maintain the house. An additional $7,800 was allocated for the Sabbath elevator.
Collins explained, “Winthrop is dedicated to meeting the needs of all patients, and we understand that in addition to healthcare needs, our patients have important spiritual needs. People can come up with lots of reasons not to do things, but this just felt right.”

Private donations—of pillows, mezuzahs, bedspreads, artwork and small appliances—have been ongoing.

Rabbi Perl has been delighted by the response to the Sabbath House.
“This is a true partnership between the hospital and the Jewish community,” he said. “When patients know that their family members can be nearby, it has such a positive effect on their spirits and on their recovery.”

Other efforts have been undertaken by Long Island hospitals to accommodate observant families, but none as extreme as the Winthrop Sabbath House.

North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset recently opened a Jewish “Hospitality Room,” as a place for respite and reflection. The room includes Jewish prayer and study books, separate microwave ovens for meat and dairy, a hot water urn for coffee, and a computer. For observant families who need overnight accommodations, guest rooms are provided on the campus, with kosher food and Shabbos candles available.

Recalling her experience at the Winthrop Sabbath House, Wadler said, “It’s so hard for religious people when we have to contend with Sabbath rules while someone is in the hospital, and having the Sabbath House right nearby made the experience as stress-less as possible for us.”