Entering week nine (or 10, depends who you ask) of our COVID-19 reality, we are witnessing a new phase of possibility, response and action—and maybe even guarded community optimism. We are blessed to have so many health-professional community members with the courage and skills to work within the fray of this plague, and so many others who contribute to our collective welfare just by cooperating with the protective measures of social distancing and protective/preventive personal gear.
Unnamed, unnumbered families have benefitted from the amazing efforts, skills and hearts of Drs. Joshua and Joey Shatzkes. So, to no one’s surprise, they initiated the idea of a local, medically supervised, COVID-19 screening campaign.
Dr. Josh Shatzkes is particularly inspired by how the local Jewish community has come together to give plasma. The improvement of COVID-19 patients receiving “convalescent plasma,” said practice partner Dr. Jeff Bander, is “anecdotally promising, with no down side and historically has a transfusion reaction of zero.” While it is impossible to definitively attribute the improvement specifically to the plasma, it seems that the risk is low compared to the potential benefit.
Dr. Josh called upon the leadership and reputation of Ora Kornbluth, executive director of Yeshivat He’Atid, and together they established a COVID-19 antibody screening campaign—launched and executed within a four-day period. Kornbluth, who also sits on the Bergenfield township council, said she felt a great sense of commitment to step up and help the medical professionals who have given so selflessly to manage the COVID-19 crisis in our area.
Needless to say, it didn’t happen in a vacuum. The Jewish Link spoke with Kornbluth about how their idea transformed into reality in such a short period of time.
Kornbluth engaged the assistance of her colleague at Yeshivat He’Atid, Kate Davis, vice president, and, she explained, “First we needed board approval to use the Yeshivat He’Atid building as the testing venue. We had to provide a plan that considered protocols for safety, sanitization, social distancing and the correct flow of human traffic in, through and out of the building, limiting and monitoring access to all but the minimally required spaces.”
The board approved the plan last Monday. On Tuesday the website for registration went live, and a mind-boggling 500-plus people registered. The campaign itself took place all day Thursday.
Kornbluth continued, “Next we had to arrange for the equipment and testing supplies.” Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck rose to the occasion, generously providing the supplies, and also sent a team of phlebotomists. But three people could not possibly handle 500 patients.
Then, reported Kornbluth, something amazing happened: 25-30 medical professionals from all over the community stepped up and volunteered to serve as phlebotomists, on their day off! These professionals consisted of doctors, nurses, phlebotomists and others, who offered to provide this service because they viewed it as an opportunity to help alleviate the suffering of others.
The campaign was a joint project of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City and Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck.
Dr. Adam Jarrett, chief medical officer at Holy Name, told The Jewish Link that “Holy Name has been anxious to identify a patient population who could be plasma donor candidates.” Further, he expressed the hope that “plasma could be an arsenal of treatment, based on its history of use with previous viruses.”
Mt. Sinai Hospital and Holy Name Hospital have engaged recently in clinical collaboration, according to Dr. Jarrett, beginning with antibody testing “in house.” Mt. Sinai took on the task of processing blood samples and results will be reported privately by phone. Volunteers drove to and from Mt. Sinai in shifts over the course of the day, transporting blood to the lab for analysis in chilled coolers. People who tested positive for the antibody and would like to continue to the next step of donating plasma will be contacted by the blood bank. According to Dr. Shatzkes and Dr. Bander, people can make multiple donations, once a week for four weeks. Then they would need to be re-tested to determine the continued presence of COVID-19 antibodies. Dr. Bander noted that of the approximately 6,000 plasma donations locally, 3,000 have been from the Orthodox Jewish community.
By Ellie Wolf
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