38 | FEBRUARY 29 • 2024
J
N
E
mergency visits to
hospitals or urgent
cares often involve
long stressful hours in packed
waiting rooms and a weird,
empty feeling when finally
being seen by a rushed medi-
cal professional. Shmuel Bass
and Bentzi Oseroff, friends
and entrepreneurs from
Southfield, decided that some-
thing had to be done.
“
A lot of medical care has
become dispassionate over the
years,” Bass said. “Sometimes
patients didn’t feel like they
were being treated as human
beings; they felt like just a
number or a source of finan-
cial gain.”
For about 18 months, Bass
and Oseroff worked on the
idea of creating a local Jewish
urgent care. In February
2023, they leased a building
in Southfield and set to work
getting credentials and equip-
ment.
On Oct. 15, Refuah Urgent
Care first opened its doors.
Refuah’s medical director is
Dr. Eli Kott, who
has more than15
years’ experience
in emergency
room medicine.
He received his
M.D. from Temple
University and
moved to Michigan in 2008
for his residency at St. John’s
Medical Center in Detroit.
Family practitioner Esther
Selik, MSN, APRN, FNP-C,
has a robust nurs-
ing background,
including experi-
ence in specialties
such as oncology,
hospice, neurolo-
gy, psychiatry and
family practice.
Also on staff is
primary medical
assistant Maya
Greenstein, who
famously saved a
child’s life at the
Oak Park pool
while working as a
teenage lifeguard in 2019.
Currently, Refuah Urgent
Care provides diagnostic test-
ing, vaccinations, breathing
treatments and stitches, as well
as X-rays. It has the latest test-
ing device that enables them
to simulate the accurate results
of an overnight strep test in
just six minutes.
Interestingly, the concept for
Detroit Hatzalah, the Jewish
emergency medical service,
was also spearheaded by Bass
and Oseroff.
“Nine years later, Hatzalah
has expanded and grown.
It has even attained its first
ambulance,” said Bass, who is
an EMT. After the organiza-
tion took off, he stepped down
from Hatzalah to focus on
other endeavours.
“Refuah is Hatzalah’s natural
extension. Hatzalah is always
the first call, but when a
patient is told to follow up or
get a second opinion, Refuah
can provide that next level of
care. No need to spend hours
in a busy hospital waiting
room.”
In the first two months,
more than 500 patients walked
through Refuah’s doors just
from word of mouth alone.
“These numbers show us
just how necessary Refuah is,”
Oseroff said.
A JEWISH URGENT CARE
These days, some members
of the community might
feel understandably anxious
about others knowing they
are Jewish; this anxiety can be
exacerbated when a person is
feeling at their most vulner-
able.
“Refuah is geared for the
Jewish community,” explained
Bass. “Obviously, from a legal,
ethical and moral perspective,
whoever walks through our
doors will get the same level of
treatment. There’s no discrim-
ination. We’ll give high level
medical care to anyone who
needs a service that we can
provide.”
There’s a recognizably
haimishe (homey) feel at the
Help for a
Speedy Recovery
Refuah Urgent Care caters to Jewish patients.
ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
HEALTH
Dr. Eli Kott
Esther
Selik
Maya
Greenstein
The waiting room at
Refuah Urgent Care