Two Care CEOs work together on alcohol abuse
The CEO of JewishCare and the CEO of the Jewish House shared a platform in Sydney last night in a public meeting dealing with alcohol abuse co-hosted by the Jewish House and Wolper Hospital.
Professor Gordion Fulde, Graham Thompson, Wolper CEO Harry Eisenberg, Claire Vernon and Rabbi Mendel Kastel
JewishCare CEO Claire Vernon, Jewish House CEO Rabbi Mendel Kastel were joined by Dr Karen Fisher, a drug and alcohol expert from the Nepean Hospital, Professor Gordion Fulda, head of Emergency at St Vincent’s Hospital and publican Graham Thompson.
More than 100 people at the Wolper Hospital meeting heard how alcohol is having an adverse affect on many Sydney Jewish families.
Rabbi Mendel Kastel told J-Wire: “There is plenty of evidence to show that it is being used to mask real problems which need to be ventilated in order to be solved. Alcohol on its own will simply exacerbate the issue.”
Amongst the audience were individuals who admitted to having problems with alcohol.
The Big Brother program run by Sydney’s JewishCare was explained by CEO Claire Vernon. The program goes further than simply helping the person with the alcohol problem. It encompasses how the problem impacts on the entire family.
Karen Fisher told the evening about how alcohol affects the brain and can be directly responsible for long-term damage.
Publican Graham Thompson told the meeting that his two sons were policemen so he was more than well-informed about how alcohol produces social problems. He said that it was in the Australian psyche to drink but that it should be contained in the arena of enjoyment only and must be controlled.
The meeting heard from Professor Fulde how the Emergency Room at a major hospital like St Vincent’s has to deal with alcoholic problems on a daily basis.
The meeting was jointly held by Wolper Hospital and the Jewish House.
It is the first time the CEOs of Sydney’s two major care organisations have shared a platform. Claire Vernon told J-Wire: “We do work together with the other care organisations at the operational level.”
As usual,at this type of meeting ,the absentees were the one that would have benefitted the most.The speakers were most knowledgeable in their fields and presented their case in an eloquent,comprehensible manner.There could have been more publicity to attract a larger audience..Well done.We need more such informative sessions.