Tragic irony

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Our tour of Shaare Zedek Medical Center ended on a sad note when our guide showed us this photo at the entrance.
Dr. David Applebaum was director of the hospital's Department of Emergency Medicine.
On the night before his daughter Naava's wedding, father and daughter went out for coffee together in Jerusalem's Cafe Hillel for a heart-to-heart talk.
A suicide bomber entered and blew them up.
Five others were killed and 50 wounded.
That was in 2002, in the awful days of the Second Intifada.

Read about the great contributions Dr. Applebaum made in the twenty years after his aliyah from the USA, including these:

He founded the Terem Immediate Care Center, which revolutionized emergency care in Jerusalem by treating relatively minor injuries and ailments in a freestanding clinic, freeing up hospital emergency rooms to deal with more serious cases.
In 1986, Dr. Applebaum was presented with an award by the Knesset after treating terror victims at the scene of an attack on King George Street in Jerusalem while still under fire.
In 2002, Dr. Applebaum was appointed head of Shaare Zedek Medical Center's Department of Emergency Medicine and was viewed in Israel's medical community as one of the country's leaders in the field.
He introduced a number of groundbreaking changes to improve efficiency, and had extensive plans to continue this process following the completion of the new Weinstock Department of Emergency Medicine, which is now under construction.
He began to staff the department with emergency medicine specialists, rather than relying on specialists in the various departments of the hospital. He also introduced the computer tracking of patients, and was insistent on cutting waiting time to an absolute minimum.
When he was out of the hospital, he continued to monitor the treatment of each patient via a computer connection, even when he was abroad.

And here is another  article about him in the New York Times emphasizing the tragic irony, entitled "A Healer of Terror Victims Becomes One."
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(Linking M for murder to ABC Wednesday.)

Quandary and quaternary

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While trying to find an interesting Q word for ABC Wednesday I happened upon QUATERNARY. 

Wikipedia explains that "The term quaternary care is also used sometimes as an extension of tertiary care in reference to medicine of advanced levels which are highly specialized and not widely accessed. Experimental medicine and some types of uncommon diagnostic or surgical procedures are considered quaternary care."

Sounds ominous already, no?

Some health experts think so, too, because I found this:

Quaternary prevention, first coined at Wonca world Hong Kong 1995 by M. Jamoulle & M.Roland, describes the protection of patients from diagnostic tests, interventions and treatments that offer no benefit for overall morbidity or mortality for the individual, and may cause physical or psychological harm.

The P4 concept pulls together all reflexive moves on the problems resulting from an excess of medical care, such as overscreening, overinvestigation, overprescription, and overtreatment.

 

 No direct relationship to quaternary (I hope!), but here you see the new Kupat Holim Clalit health center to which the gastroenterology (and other) specialists have now moved. 

It is on Bethlehem Road in Jerusalem and is called Lev Talpiot.

Ah, but the writing above the main door puts me in a quandary.
How can I find out why it says Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate  Jerusalem 2000  above the door to my new medical center?
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Hundreds of centuries-old apothecary jars!

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(All photos can be enlarged with a click, then one more click.)

In yesterday's post we talked about the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Museum, located on the Via Dolorosa, in the Flagellation Monastery,  near the Lions Gate.

One of its unique treasures is the Pharmacy of St. Saviour's Monastery.

Here is how the Custody of the Holy Land website describes it:

 "The Pharmacy of St. Saviour's Monastery in Jerusalem dates back to as early as 1620. However its real development  must be attributed to Fr Anthony Menzani of Cuna (1650 - 1729) - a friar physician and pharmacist. 
It was described as one of the finest pharmacies in the Christian world at that time. 
Fr Anthony worked tirelessly practicing his medical art day and night. But he also loved his pharmacy. After many years work Fr Anthony invented and formulated the well renowned "Balsam of Jerusalem' which was an important remedy for various ailments for about two centuries in Europe and the near East."

"Commissioned by the Custody of the Holy Land to the firm of Boselli in Savona, near Genoa in Italy, the collection was embellished by supplementary pieces coming from Venice. The Savona pots are dated from the middle of the 17th century up to the 19th century. 
Many of them have the firm's mark on the bottom (a hawk with crown) and also the signature: "Giacomo Boselli Savona 1791". On the face of the jugs, along with the name of the drug and decorations, are painted the coat of arms of the Custody of the Holy Land and that of the Republic of Genoa."

Here is the Lion of St. Mark, the symbol of Venice.

The photos from 1893 are so nice.

Today's Franciscans describe their former pharmacy in the sign:

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Located in the main monastery of the Custody, it was the only pharmacy in Jerusalem for many centuries.
The pharmacy served the needs of friars, pilgrims and local population, irrespective of creed.

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If you'd like to delve into the fascinating details, there is an article for you at Jerusalem Balsam website called
Franciscans Medical, An Early Glimpse at Western Medicine in Jerusalem 1700-1840:
The Case of the Jews and the Franciscans Medical Activity, by Zohar Amar and Efraim Lev.
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See also my posts about the  Materia Medica in the History of Jerusalem  exhibit that is or was at Shaare Zedek Hospital:
 http://jerusalemhillsdailyphoto.blogspot.co.il/2011/07/for-good-for-blessing-for-healing-and.html
and
http://jerusalemhillsdailyphoto.blogspot.co.il/2011/07/concocting-cure.html
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