Brooklyn welcomes a new initiative, slated to improve local healthcare and strengthen the heimish community’s relationship with medical providers. Partners in Prevention is a unique collaboration that will focus on long-term health education, building a rapport with a dedicated primary care physician, and strengthening trust in the local medical community.

The campaign was launched as physicians, healthcare administrators, referral organizations, emergency medical leaders, and community advocates from across Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community gathered for a meeting with a shared mission: ensuring families have access to trusted, accurate medical information.

Organized by the Boro Park Jewish Community Council (BPJCC) through a CDC Foundation grant and in partnership with the NYC Health Department, representatives from virtually every healthcare organization serving the heimish community, participated in launching a coordinated campaign focused on broader healthcare communication and education about current medical concerns.

Among those participating were community healthcare leaders, including Dr. Alysa Frenkel of Kindercare Williamsburg; Dr. Shimshi Zimmerman, Medical Director of Chevra Hatzolah; Dr. Edwin Cohen Azarkian of Parcare Community Health; Dr. Israel Zyskind of Boro Park Pediatrics; Dr. Jeffery Teitelbaum of Ezra Medical Center; Dr. Robert Adler of Segulah Pediatrics; Dr. Jacqueline Benayoun of ODA; Dr. Sara Tarsis of Premium Health; Dr. Shaindel Ifrah Goldfeiz from JOWMA; Avi Greenstein, BPJCC CEO; Leah Horowitz of Chaim Aruchim; Rabbi Chaim Fleisher of Makdim; Rabbi Moshe Rottenberg of Chaim Medical Resources; and Rabbi Nuchem Schwartz of Refuah Helpline.

As he introduced the new initiative, Avi Greenstein reflected on its origins and the collaborative effort that brought Partners in Prevention to fruition. He noted that parents today are inundated with conflicting information online, much of which is amplified and shared throughout the community.

“There is an overload of information,” Greenstein said. “The goal of this initiative is not simply to provide more information but to help families identify trusted medical guidance and rebuild confidence in their own physicians.”

Throughout the evening, speakers returned to a common concern. Physicians are once again seeing vaccine-preventable illnesses that had become exceedingly rare. Many of the doctors shared heartbreaking stories of children who became critically ill because they did not receive the full protection of routine immunizations.

There was broad agreement that improved communication is essential. Dr. Shimshi Zimmerman of Chevra Hatzalah emphasized the need to unify all community organizations and medical providers to benefit the public.

Dr. Alysa Frenkel from Kindercare Pediatrics in Williamsburg presented real-world data on the latest vaccination statistics in the Boro Park and Williamsburg communities. She shared that vaccine hesitancy has become a significant challenge and that physicians struggle to persuade parents to vaccinate their children during brief office visits.

Dr. Adler also raised concerns about another growing trend: parents declining the routine Vitamin K injection given shortly after birth. He explained that Vitamin K helps protect newborns from potentially life-threatening bleeding.  The importance of Vitamin K was also stressed to reduce the risk of bleeding during a bris milah.

Physicians collaborated to discuss their concerns and vision, focusing on young children, vaccine hesitancy, and the need to reach future parents early enough to make a difference.

The broad coalition behind the Partners in Prevention campaign is significant because it ensures that every segment of the community is reached through the voices and channels they trust most.

Ruchie Scharf of TMG Media Group emphasized that the marketing campaign will serve as an ongoing communication platform for physicians, enabling healthcare professionals to raise important public health issues through trusted community channels. Local physicians’ concerns will now have a defined way to reach a broad swath of community members thereby helping to improve the level of healthcare throughout Brooklyn.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)