Dear Hatzolah Team,

When extraordinary things occur regularly, they tend to become ordinary, and the impact of actions may seem less significant then they truly are. As a cardiologist at Milpark hospital, and a member of the community, I am sending this letter to express that the work Hatzolah does each and every day is consistently extraordinary.

Time and again Hatzolah delivers world class heath care to the community. This care goes far beyond the basic medical care. It is rather an extraordinary encompassing biological, social, psychological and spiritual care for all patients and their families. There is always a determination to achieve the highest levels of medical and professional excellence. Your personnel, equipment, and most of all your commitment, definitively impacts on the positive outcomes we see in patients managed by you. When time is of critical importance, such as in patients sustaining myocardial infarction, your rapid response time, early pre hospital diagnosis and then your contacting me directly, has changed the outcomes for patients and their families. Your actions have allowed for restoration of blood flow to the affected heart muscle in time periods well under the international target and norms.

Not only saving lives, but you are ensuring that when these patients survive, they are left with minimal residual impact from critical cardiac events. They are able to join their families and communities as fully functional parents, spouses or siblings, and live fully active lives. Everything we do is in the hands of and guided by Hashem. It is our blessing that Hashem has blessed our community with Hatzolah South Africa.

May you continue from strength to strength in the extraordinary work you do.
May Hashem shower His blessings on you all.

Dr Nachie Levin
Cardiologist
Netcare Milpark Hospital

When Covid 19 hit our community earlier this year, naturally Hatzolah stepped in to ensure our well-being and keep us informed. For myself and my colleagues working in the hospital, they became an invaluable support, monitoring many positive cases daily to keep them out of the hospital and safe at home.

The protocols that we put in place to continue serving the community were exceptional, and each responder put their own health and safety at risk, attending to calls and overseeing ill patients daily with check ins and phone calls.

The WhatsApp information groups, and consistent monitoring of the virus, was incredible and made our job in the Hospital that much more manageable. Nothing was ever too much, and a simple call to Uriel would facilitate home transport from the hospital, as well as oxygen to be delivered to the patients door ensuring their recuperation at home. Hatzolah we are truly blessed to have an organisation of this caliber in our midst. 'The difference between who you are and what you want to be, is what you do', may you always be able to serve the community.

Dr Anton Meyberg
Pulmonologist
Netcare Linksfield Park Clinic

Good day, My name is Dr Dean Sevel, I am a general practitioner at Medical on Maude in Sandton. This letter serves as a testimonial to the exceptional and outstanding service that Uriel and his team at Hatzolah provide to members of our community and beyond. Their service to our community knows no bounds and they will go beyond the call of duty to ensure the safety and longevity of the community. Over the last year I have worked closely with many members of the Hatzolah group and their dedication, efficiency, clinical expertise and professionalism is sublime.

They have cared for my patients during the times I couldn't physically be there to do so and they have updated me along the way with my patients' progress and then further assisted me if my patients needed additions to their care or escalation of care.

We are very blessed to have individuals in our community who give selflessly to us with a smile on their faces and love in their hearts. May Hashem bless Hatzolah and all its members.

Dr Dean Sevel
General Practioner
Private Practice

Covid 19 hit South Africa. Everything was out of control. The hospital became a warzone and in the midst of trying to come to terms with this new disease, we were 3 "men" down, with 3 physicians having contracted the virus. We were 3 (doctors) against 90 (patients); we were working around the clock; we were stressed and exhausted and completely overwhelmed. It was at this time that I had a Jewish patient, a very sweet elderly lady with severe Covid pneumonia who I realised was unlikely to survive. As her doctor, I spent a lot of time with her husband on the phone, updating him about his wife's condition.

He too was Covid positive and when I told him that his wife was in a critical condition, he was distraught. Not only would he not be able to be by his wife's side in the hospital when she gave her last breath, but he would not even be able to be with her at her funeral. I was overwrought by the whole situation. I told Uriel Rosen the story because Hatzolah had been involved in her care from the beginning, had brought her into the ward in the first place, and Hatzolah were monitoring her husband at home. Nothing more was said. Unfortunately, as predicted, my patient passed away soon after this conversation and plans for her funeral were made.

Only after the funeral did I learn that Hatzolah had arranged to fetch my patient's husband, donned him in appropriate PPE and in a Hatzolah ambulance, driven by a Hatzolah volunteer (donned in the appropriate PPE gear), had taken him to say a final goodbye to his beloved wife.

As a doctor, I am privy to the extraordinary work that Hatzolah does on a regular basis. However, any help that the community has received during more 'normal'; times has been amplified during the Covid 19 crisis. Hatzolah has proved themselves to be an organisation that is not only concerned with the medical care of their patients, but also with their emotional wellbeing and their spiritual needs. Our community is privileged to have Hatzolah watching over us and we owe our greatest thanks to them.

Dr Caron Zinnman
Pulmonologist
Netcare Linksfield Park Clinic