For as long as he can remember, Dr. Scott Weiner wanted to be a pediatrician. When he was a young child, his grandmother would tell him that one day he would grow up to be a doctor. Today, Dr. Weiner is a neonatologist serving as the medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at HaEmek Medical Center in Israel’s northern city of Afula.
Dr. Weiner met his Israeli wife, Anat, at a summer camp 25 years ago. The two married after Dr. Weiner completed medical school in Israel and his residency in the United States. They resided in a suburb of New Haven, not far from where Dr. Weiner grew up, though the couple’s thoughts were constantly on Israel. In 2013, after living in Connecticut for 14 years, they made aliyah with their three children and settled in the Jezreel Valley settlement of Givat Ela. Though he was offered positions in hospitals around Israel, Dr. Weiner and Anat wanted to settle in the north of the country, where they could enjoy mountains and greenery.
Dr. Weiner specializes in care for premature babies and newborns who are in need of extra attention. During a typical week he sees dozens of babies. HaEmek Medical Center is one of the largest hospitals in Israel and serves 700,000 visitors per year, according to its website. The hospital is very modern and features some of the most cutting-edge technological and medical advances. The NICU has 23 beds, which are typically near or at full capacity. His department is responsible for 5,000 deliveries a year.
While the medical experience for Dr. Weiner is similar in Israel and the United States, it is the system and the way that medicine is administered in Israel that took him time to get used to. This includes differences around the privatization of medicine and the relationship with HMOs, among other discrepancies. The language barrier also posed a challenge for him but is much less an issue today.
Spending hours in the NICU is not simple. In addition to being present for many joyful moments in the lives of young parents, Dr. Weiner has witnessed difficult moments for families who are tending to a newborn in need of medical care. He recently spent time with a 7½-year-old boy whom he treated in the NICU as a newborn, after he was born prematurely at 24 weeks. Under Dr. Weiner’s care, the newborn survived and today he is a healthy young boy. “I never look at it because of me but because of us,” Dr. Weiner said. “But it’s a good feeling to know that I am a part of that and that my career has enabled me to be part of something so special and to save a life.”
One of the highlights for Dr. Weiner of working at HaEmek Medical Center is the multi-cultural experience. He works together with colleagues from diverse backgrounds, including Christian Arabs, Muslim Arabs and religious and secular Jews from North Africa, Europe and Ethiopia. “It’s a coexistence of people coming together to just deliver care to people,” Dr. Weiner explained. And it is something he feels very proud of.
When he is not in the hospital treating babies, Dr. Weiner works as a mohel. He has trained by the reform movement in the United Stated and has performed a brit milah ceremony for some 2,000 babies since he made aliyah. And he evens finds time to perform with his band “Agroyse Metzia”—Yiddish sarcasm for “a big deal”—which is made up of friends from Givat Ela. He always had a dream of playing music and the opportunity knocked on his door after making aliyah.
Whether caring for a sick newborn or performing at a brit milah, Dr. Weiner understands the important role he plays in the lives of many families. “Every time I am taking care of a baby in the NICU or officiating at a brit, it’s a wonderful feeling because I am part of a special point in somebody’s life where I can make a difference to the family and the baby,” Dr. Weiner said. And he is deeply aware of the sense of purpose practicing neonatology in Israel. “I’m contributing to the country. To get to do it in Israel is very special.”
Alisa Bodner is a Fair Lawn native who immigrated to Israel a decade ago. She is a nonprofit management professional who enjoys writing in her free time.
