Dr. Phil Rosenbloom

[Archived from March 6, 2009]

[by Shiela Steinman Wallace]

Medical personnel who participate in the Emergency Response Group (ERG) training at Western Galilee Hospital (WGH) in Nahariya, Israel, return to the United States excited about what they have learned and eager to recruit others for the program. During the two-week program, which is part of the Partnership with Israel initiative, they meet and connect with their counterparts in Israel and develop strong bonds with the Western Galilee.

Since participating in the ERG program in 2004, Dr. Phil Rosenbloom has been an active advocate for the program and for Partnership. Last September, he spearheaded an ERG Ambassadors Program in Louisville, which drew 70 people in a wide variety of medical careers to a one-day workshop previewing the full ERG program. Three Israeli physicians, including WGH Director Norman Loberant, came to Louisville and were among the presenters.

Now Dr. Rosenbloom has agreed to take a leadership role for the entire Partnership with Israel Central Consortium, a group of 14 Midwestern communities that work closely with the Western Galilee. He is the new chair of the Consortium’s Medical Task Force, succeeding Drs. Ed Goodman and Sandy Bidner of Dallas, who originated the task force. He will be working closely with Dr. Loberant; WGH’s International Liaison, Judy Jochnowitz; and Heidi Beinish, a Partnership staff person in Israel.

“We’ll be continuing the close relationship between Western Galilee Hospital and our Partnership communities,” Dr. Rosenbloom said, “including the ERG courses that have been given in Israel annually since 2000.”

“We are also attempting to coordinate other programs such as the Ambassadors Program,” he continued. This year was the first year the mini-ERG seminar was offered. The program was presented in Louisville, Dallas and Dayton, and, Dr. Rosenbloom said proudly, “Louisville had the largest turnout of any of the three cities.”

To date, the ERG program has focused on the people who are the hospital-based first responders in mass casualty emergencies. Dr. Rosenbloom hopes to “expand the ERG program to include hospital administrators and other first responders in the communities such as ambulance personnel, police, firefighters and others.”

The next scheduled ERG program will be November 5-13 in Israel.

While there have been some medical exchange programs for doctors and administrators in the past, he also hopes to expand the opportunities available in all consortium cities and the Western Galilee. He also dreams of developing “some type of partnership, perhaps with the University of Louisville Medical School and Western Galilee Hospital.”

“I’ve enjoyed the experience and the relationships developed through the ERG program,” Dr. Rosenbloom said, and he looks forward to involving many more people in it.

Originally from Jackson, TN, and Detroit, Dr. Rosenbloom earned a PhD in pharmacology and an MD from Vanderbilt University, did his internship at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and completed residencies at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Vanderbilt University and the University of Louisville, all in surgery.

He is a certified general surgeon, past president of the Norton Audubon Medical Staff, and belongs to a number of professional associations. He has also published several professional papers.

He served in the Maryland National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserve.

He and his wife of 44 years, Ellen, are members of The Temple, where Dr. Rosenbloom has long chaired the ARZA committee. He is also a former Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader of Troop 30.

Dr. Rosenbloom is a past national board member of ARZA, the Zionist arm of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. He is also a life member of National Council of Jewish Women, Louisville Section, of which Ellen is currently president, and has been a [er,amemt foxtire at every Fashion Encore, camera in hand.

The Rosenblooms have three children and five grandchildren. Trent Rosenbloom and his wife, Ellie, have three children, Shayna, Adena and Micah. Keri Rosenbloom and her husband, Jonathan Toback, have a son, Asher. Brice Rosenbloom and his wife, Dina, have a son, Sydney.

Partnership with Israel, a program of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), is designed to foster individual relationships between Israelis and American Jews. The Louisville Jewish Community Federation has been an active participant in the program since its inception.

The Federation is part of the Central Area Consortium of Midwestern Federations partnered with the Western Galilee region of Israel. The Western Galilee is located along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and extends to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

Through Partnership programs, Louisville has benefited from numerous exchanges in medicine, art, music, education and business.

The program is flexible, so if a Louisvillian has a specific interest he/she would like to pursue with counterparts in the Western Galilee, it is often possible to develop a suitable program.

For more information about Partnership and to learn how you can become involved, contact Federation Executive Director Alan Engel, 451-8840.

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