The Oxygen Underground

The scene disclosed by an Israeli television report last week inside a Meah Shearim basement — the nerve center of a medical chesed network that has been providing home care for thousands of COVID patients over the last six months — stunned both health care professionals and the public. But the initial outrage over this medical “fifth column” notwithstanding, the public discovery has subsequently sparked a serious discussion about benefits of the home-care alternative to overcrowded, understaffed hospitals.

The subterranean storage room, home of the Chasdei Amram medical-supplies gemach, holds up to 220 oxygen machines that are loaned out to coronavirus patients for free, as well as dozens of oxygen saturation monitors and other medical equipment for the COVID-19 battle. Volunteers visit coronavirus patients in their homes several times a day, closely monitor their vitals, oxygen saturation levels, and other symptoms, and medical professionals who work with the organization decide when and if the patient should be transferred to a hospital.

Yitzchok Markowitz, founder and director of Chasdei Amram, is adamant that his program provides more hands-on treatment than the current medical establishment and lifts some of the burden off the health care system.

At least 170 people currently being treated by the volunteer network are in serious condition, and over 2,000 patients have received Chasdei Amram’s assistance over the past six months. Markowitz claims that only 10 to 15 of his patients have ended up in the hospitals, and only three out of several thousand have died.