Health

Organ-izing Israelis
Is No Easy Task

WENDY ELLIMAN
Special to The Jewish News

T

oo many Israelis in need of
new kidneys, hearts, lungs
and livers must go to
Europe or North America
to get them — or die waiting. Though
organ donation has been slow to catch
on among Israel's most observant
Jewish and Muslim populations, the
country's sluggish record for organ
donation is, at least, on the upswing.
Whereas two years ago, an average
300 healthy people were signing
themselves up each month as potential
donors, today that figure has increased
tenfold. And at the Hadassah-Hebrew
University Medical Center in
Jerusalem, where no organs at all were
donated through 1996 and most of
1997, there has been a donor a month
for the past three months — and 10
people have received a new lease on
life from their organs.
Several factors contribute to the
upsurge, according to Sari Gotthold,
Hadassah's transplant coordinator since
November 1997. One is the ongoing
education/information effort conduct-
ed in Israel by individuals, groups and
hospitals for some 20 years. Another is
the recent centralization and coordina-
tion of this campaign.
"A few years ago, the Health
Ministry looked around and saw that
organ donation in this country was a
disaster," Gotthold said.
"So they provided for the appoint-
ment of a transplant coordinator in
every hospital in Israel, they run ongo-
ing seminars to help us coordinators
function effectively and they comput-
erize the details of all those waiting for
organs so they can be rapidly matched
with donors."
Gotthold fails to mention that the
successful securing of donors —at least
at Hadassah — sprang to life with her
own appointment four months ago.
What she does say is that requiring all
transplant coordinators to be experi-
enced nurses makes good sense.
"At first, the thinking was that it's a
job for social workers. But we've seen
that that's mistaken. What I do as
transplant coordinator is essentially a
nurse's job, much as I've worked for
the past 20 years."
And a nurse's job is supporting
families through the ordeal. "Last
month, nine potential donors were
admitted to Hadassah.
"I spent days with the families of

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