Jewish healthcare providers form new Alberta association

by Maxine Fischbein, LJI Reporter

(AJNews) – The vicious murders of close to 1,200 Israeli citizens by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023— the deadliest pogrom to befall the Jewish people since the Holocaust—was a cruel reminder of just how deadly antisemitism can be.

Diaspora Jews were—and remain—fearful for Israelis, especially those taken into captivity in Gaza. We were not prepared for the worldwide wave of antisemitism that followed, sparking fear for our safety at home.

It is a painful reminder that self-sufficiency and mutual support are critical to the wellbeing of Diaspora Jews in cities, neighbourhoods, professions, and educational institutions.

One Alberta organization that sought to advocate for its members even before October 7 is the Jewish Healthcare Association of Alberta, which is currently in the process of incorporating under the Societies Act. The group will be holding coordinated events on Sept. 14  in both Calgary and Edmonton that will include a dinner, a speaker and plenty of networking opportunities.

The group was born in Calgary in February 2023 thanks to the efforts of a handful of medical trainees led by Chaim Katz, now a second-year Psychiatry resident at the University of Calgary , who felt the time had come for Jewish health practitioners in Alberta to create an association to represent their unique needs and interests.

Originally called Calgary Jews in Healthcare, the group held its first event in April 2023. “After October 7, I think people realized how necessary the group was, and it got a lot more buy-in,” Katz told AJNews last month.

Open to all Jewish healthcare providers from students to retirees, the group—which sought to support members by providing educational, social and mentorship opportunities—soon expanded to Edmonton and beyond. Today the list of healthcare professionals who have signed up for more information and/or attended events in Calgary and Edmonton numbers 215.

The mission of the organization is “to establish and maintain a community of healthcare providers dedicated to advocating for the needs and interests of the Jewish community within the context of the healthcare system. The system pertains to healthcare education, service delivery and professional and administrative issues. Our advocacy aims to provide education, address antisemitism in healthcare, create social community-building activities, and support the health and well-being of Alberta’s Jewish community. Additionally, we aim to foster broad community relationships and contribute to improving overall healthcare within the larger provincial community.”

Antisemitism within healthcare affects both practitioners and members of the public, said Katz, who added that a survey conducted last year in Ontario found that antisemitism is rampant, that healthcare providers are concerned about it, and that they need a safe space in which to communicate about it.”

“The survey of over 1,000 Jewish medical professionals across Canada found that while just one percent of Canadian Jewish doctors experienced severe antisemitism in a community, hospital or academic setting prior to the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, now 29 percent, 39 percent and 43 percent say they have experienced some antisemitism in each of those settings, respectively,” says a Dec. 4, 2024 National Post article.

While medical colleges in Ontario have received complaints about Jewish practitioners based solely on the fact that they are Jewish, the situation in Alberta has been more “subtle,” Katz says. Still, campus demonstrations and encampments, disrupted convocations, petitions filled with antisemitic tropes, and toxic social media posts have occurred in Alberta as elsewhere.

Increasingly, students in the healthcare professions are reporting “perceived bias” due to their Jewish backgrounds, Katz says. “We are also dealing now potentially even with patients who are concerned about some of the care they are getting, just given their background…that they are Jewish,” he added.

Katz and other JHAA leaders are understandably reticent to discuss the details of situations and discussions that are ongoing, but they are actively providing support to their members, developing positive relationships with medical schools and colleges, and advocating for antisemitism education in institutions where other marginalized groups are routinely represented.

Like the JHAA, similar organizations across Canada either have, or are in the process of, formally incorporating. The Canadian Federation of Jewish Medical Associations (CFJMA) has invited each provincial organization to represent its members’ interests on the national scene, Katz told AJNews.

The CFJMA is the umbrella organization for Jewish medical organizations in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, and the Maritimes. The organization collaborates with the Alliance Combatting Campus Antisemitism (ALCCA).

“One of the best things to come out of all the antisemitism we’ve endured in the last couple of years is that we have made connections with Jewish physicians in other provinces,” says Dr. Gary Galante, a Calgary-based pediatric gastroenterologist who serves as JHAA vice chair and physician section head.

“I’ve built friendships I didn’t have two years ago, indirectly or directly as a result of the work we’ve been doing and the connections we’ve been building,” added Galante.

Like Katz, both Galante and JHAA board member Dr. Gary Wolch—the director of palliative care at Edmonton’s Royal Alexandra Hospital and an associate professor at the University of Alberta—have added advocacy work to their already busy lives.

Galante, who was raised in Edmonton, has been living in Calgary for about 12 years now. He engages in discussions with universities and colleges in both cities.

“It was easy for me to accept a role of this nature because I do feel like I still have a connection. The University of Alberta is where I did the vast majority of my training, and I have a personal connection to the medical school in particular,” Galante said.

Wolch became involved in the JHAA about a year ago.

“When my own children went off to university, it certainly created an awareness as to the issues occurring on campuses all across Canada,” Wolch said, adding that his main focus is at the U of A, where he has been involved in “regular and frequent meetings with senior university leaders and the leadership of medical and dentistry schools.”

“Job one is to ensure ongoing antisemitism education from a Jewish perspective,” Wolch told AJNews.

“When you become a healthcare practitioner, you take on a different duty, and that’s to be able to provide knowledgeable, informed and compassionate healthcare to all your patients, and that’s what we’re trying to achieve by ensuring antisemitism education.”

He hopes that Jewish colleagues in the medical and academic worlds will lend “their time, energy and influence” to building bridges within the institutions they serve. In the long run, dialogue beats the impenetrable walls that inevitably result from emotionally charged polemics, Wolch said.

“As healthcare providers, that which binds us together is far greater than that which sets us apart, specifically, our duty to advocate for health and freedom for civilians of all backgrounds,” Wolch added.

The leadership of the JHAA consists of 13 board members and two trainee observers, one from Calgary and one from Edmonton. The makeup of the leadership is diverse, including female practitioners, among them a nurse, the student observers who head up the trainee group, and a retired social worker who chairs a mental health working group.

While the JHAA is a fully independent body, it cooperates with the Jewish Federations in both Calgary and Edmonton, “to better meet the needs of the community,” Katz says. He and his colleagues in both Calgary and Edmonton want Jewish healthcare providers to hear the overarching message… that “they are not alone.”

“For a lot of people, this is a new thing, the organization and the antisemitism,” says Katz, who also serves on the board of directors of the Calgary Jewish Federation.

While the JHAA has some serious goals, it is not all work and no play. The group has held social events in both Calgary and Edmonton, allowing medical practitioners informal opportunities to meet, mingle and get to know one another.

“We’ve had events where we’ve been able to introduce new medical students, in particular, to physicians in [a variety of] fields. Having those connections early on, I think, is very important,” Galante said, adding that the JHAA also wants to provide these kinds of opportunities to allied health professionals.

JHAA leaders are particularly pleased to afford opportunities for young practitioners to seek mentorship and extend their networks in the interest of providing patients with the best possible care.

“We are filling a need,” Katz says. “The more people we talk to, the more opportunities there are to support each other and collaborate locally, provincially and nationally.”

“One of our biggest concerns…is making sure that the next generation of trainees, like medical students and students in other health fields, are feeling supported and welcomed as part of the community,” Galante said. “That’s really one of the best things we’ve accomplished thus far, even before the organization was officially formed.”

While the JHAA was born in Calgary, it is actively seeking members in Edmonton and throughout the province. “We hope to continue to grow, build connections and ensure that everyone is included who wishes to be,” said Galante.

“We are thankful that we have the trust of so many practitioners,” Katz said. “This is a great way to build community.”

Coordinated events in Edmonton and Calgary are slated for September 14 and will include a dinner and a speaker who will discuss Jewish innovations in medicine, with networking opportunities afterwards. The events will take place at the Calgary Paperny Family JCC at 6 pm and at Edmonton Talmud Torah at 6 pm.  Jewish doctors and allied healthcare professionals who have not already registered with the JHAA can connect at https://forms.gle/vbubzhjjSAn6aN387 or www.jhaa.ca. Contact info@jhaa.ca for more information about the JHAA and its September 14 events in Calgary and Edmonton.