Christians work with Muslims to build clinic - Winnipeg Free Press

By Brenda Suderman

INSPIRED by the co-operation of Christians and Muslims in Uganda, a Winnipeg woman is mobilizing her church and the city's Muslim community to raise funds for a village medical clinic.

St. James Anglican Church and the Islamic Social Services Association are jointly hosting a fundraising dinner next month to support the construction of a health clinic in Uganda, which will serve both Muslim and Christian patients.

The initiative is thought to be the first time Christians and Muslims in Winnipeg have worked together on a common overseas project.

'The model for that is the actual people in Uganda working together,' explains Pat Stewart, who toured Uganda last year with a delegation of Anglicans from the Diocese of Rupert's Land. 'I think if we can work together here, we work at understanding and becoming better neighbours, and promote peace and understanding .'

Initially, Stewart was overwhelmed by the request by the people of Kyermina, a community 130 kilometres southwest of Kampala, to build a clinic to serve provide primary health care, prenatal care, and education about HIV/AIDs.

'Then I got an e-mail in July (saying) that we are making 20,000 bricks in August,' explains the nursing instructor at Assiniboine Community College. 'I admired the faith in the people.'

Months after returning to Winnipeg, she approached Shahina Siddiqui of the Islamic Social Services Association to see if they could work together to build the 10-room, $40,000 clinic.

'Because the village is both Christian and Muslim, we thought what a good way to do something together for a worthy cause,' says Siddiqui of her group's participation in the project.

The March 8 dinner at the St. James Civic Centre will incorporate a mixture of flavours and cultures, with Muslims preparing the main dishes of samosas, curries and rice, and the Anglican contingent providing the desserts, says Stewart. The event is projected to raise about $12,000.

Hosting a dinner together will benefits two faith communities in Uganda, and may also build bridges in Winnipeg in a new way, says Siddiqui.

'There are people who can talk and have theological debates, but for us, it's a matter of doing things, to make things better, to have action,' she says.

'I think interfaith at the grassroots level is more inclusive and is more at the community level.'

brenda@suderman.com

Dinner details

* Tickets are available for $40 from St. James Anglican Church at 888-3489 or Islamic Social Services Association at 944-1560.

* The dinner takes place at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, March 8 at the St. James Civic Centre. The event also includes a craft sale and silent auction.

Faith in the City update

* Today, I'm worshipping at the 11 a.m. service at Salvation Army Heritage Park Temple, 825 School Rd., Tel. 889-9203.

* Evening service, 6 p.m. today, Shaarey Zedek Synagogue, 561 Wellington Ave. This worship service and presentation on Judaism is the third evening in the six-part course sponsored by the Manitoba Interfaith Council and the University of Winnipeg. Drop-in participants are welcome, although there is a $5 fee payable at the door.

* Sunday mass, 11 a.m. Feb. 24, St. Gianna's Roman Catholic Church, Winnipeg Technical College, 130 Henlow Bay. Plan to arrive by 10:40.

* Evening prayers, 7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 29, Winnipeg Central Mosque, 715 Ellice Ave. Dress code is conservative and everyone is required to remove their shoes before entering the prayer hall.

* Prayers and discussion, 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, Baha'i Centre, 521 McMillan Ave. This event with Winnipeg's Baha'i community begins with 15 minutes of prayers, includes a group consultation, and ends with refreshments. Parking available on the street near this former Masonic Temple or at the nearby school.

* Looking ahead: Called to Love, April 4 to 6. A weekend of conversation in Morden, Miami and Manitou about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam with three spiritual leaders of those traditions. More information to come.

Baby born alive at abortion clinic killed - Charleston Daily Mail

TAMPA, Fla. - Eighteen and pregnant, Sycloria Williams went to anabortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique to terminate her 23-week pregnancy.

Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair, medicated todilate her cervix and otherwise get her ready for the procedure.

Only Renelique didn't arrive in time. According to Williams andthe Florida Department of Health, she went into labor and delivereda live baby girl.

What Williams and the Health Department say happened next hasshocked people on both sides of the abortion debate: One of theclinic's owners, who has no medical license, cut the infant'sumbilical cord. Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plasticbiohazard bag and threw it out.

Police recovered the decomposing remains in a cardboard box aweek later after getting anonymous tips.

'I don't care what your politics are, what your morals are, thisshould not be happening in our community,' said Tom Pennekamp, aMiami attorney representing Williams in her lawsuit againstRenelique and the clinic owners.

The state Board of Medicine is to hear Renelique's case in Tampaon Friday and determine whether to strip his license. The stateattorney's homicide division is investigating, though no chargeshave been filed. Terry Chavez, a spokeswoman with the Miami-DadeCounty State Attorney's Office, said this week that prosecutors werenearing a decision.

Renelique's attorney, Joseph Harrison, called the allegations atbest 'misguided and incomplete' in an e-mail to The AssociatedPress. He didn't provide details.

The case has riled the anti-abortion community, which contendsthe clinic's actions constitute murder.

'The baby was just treated as a piece of garbage,' said TomBrejcha, president of The Thomas More Society, a law firm that isalso representing Williams. 'People all over the country are justaghast.'

According to state records, Renelique received his medicaltraining at the State University of Haiti. In 1991, he completed afour-year residency in obstetrics and gynecology at InterfaithMedical Center in New York.

New York records show that Renelique has made at least fivemedical malpractice payments in the past decade, the circumstancesof which were not detailed in the filings.

Williams concluded she didn't have the resources or maturity toraise a child, Pennekamp said, and went to the Miramar Women'sCenter on July 17, 2006. Sonograms indicated she was 23 weekspregnant, according to the Department of Health. She met Reneliqueat a second clinic two days later.

Renelique gave Williams laminaria, a drug that dilates thecervix, and prescribed three other medications, according to theadministrative complaint filed by the Health Department. She wastold to go to yet another clinic, A Gyn Diagnostic Center inHialeah, where the procedure would be performed the next day, onJuly 20, 2006.

Williams arrived in the morning and was given more medication.

The Department of Health account continues as follows: Justbefore noon she began to feel ill. The clinic contacted Renelique.Two hours later, he still hadn't shown up. Williams went into laborand delivered the baby.

The complaint says one of the clinic owners, Belkis Gonzalez camein and cut the umbilical cord with scissors, then placed the baby ina plastic bag, and the bag in a trash can.

Williams' lawsuit offers a cruder account: She says Gonzalezknocked the baby off the recliner chair where she had given birth,onto the floor. The baby's umbilical cord was not clamped, allowingher to bleed out. Gonzalez scooped the baby, placenta and afterbirthinto a red plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

At 23 weeks, an otherwise healthy fetus would have a slim butlegitimate chance of survival. Quadruplets born at 23 weeks lastyear at The Nebraska Medical Center survived.

Town Hall Focuses on Uninsured; Officials, Residents strive for solution to the lack of health care - Portland Skanner

Portland Skanner
03-12-2003
Nearly 500,000 Oregonians have no health insurance, and as the numbers
increase, so will the cost of health care and social services, warned those
attending a local town hall meeting this week.

As part of 'Cover the Uninsured Week,' elected officials, local residents
and health care workers gathered at Self-Enhancement Inc. to discuss
solutions to resolve the plight of the uninsured.

The 'week' - from Monday, March 10 through Sunday, March 16 - was sponsored
by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropic organization
dedicated to improving health care, in partnership with other national
organizations. The nationwide effort focused attention on the 41 million
Americans who have no health insurance.

Besides the town hall meeting on Monday, other Uninsured Week activities
included a panel discussion at OHSU led by former Gov. John Kitzhaber,
M.D., health care screenings at Pioneer Courthouse Square and a health care
open house at a clinic in Rockwood.

Two more events are planned on Friday. An interfaith breakfast from 7:30 to
9 a.m. will be held in the Holiday Inn at the Portland Conference Center.
From noon to 1 p.m. a discussion by small- and large-business owners and
labor leaders about the future of employer-provided health insurance will
be conducted during a City Club meeting in the Multnomah Athletic Club,
1849 S.W. Salmon St.

During the town hall meeting on Monday, speakers stressed the role that
health insurance plays in preventing even costlier problems to individuals
and society.

Two-thirds of those who are uninsured have a full-time worker in the
household, noted Mary Beth Healey, of Oregonians for Health Security.

'The statistics are sobering,' she added. 'The inability to pay for medical
care is the leading cause of bankruptcy.'

In the past two years, nearly 890,000 Oregon residents under 65 years of
age were uninsured for a month or longer, according to a Robert Wood
Johnson report cited by Healey. At least 75 percent of those were uninsured
for six months or longer.

The cost of providing health care is the largest portion of the state
budget, said Jean Thorne, director of the state Department of Human
Resources and the state's former Medicaid director. Thorne helped to
develop the Oregon Health Plan in 1994. The plan provides some coverage to
Oregonians who otherwise would have no access to health care.

Citing the hundreds of thousands of Oregon residents who, because of the
state budget shortfall, no longer have mental health coverage, prescription
drugs or outpatient care, Thorne said that the Oregon Health Plan itself is
threatened.

'Everyone points their finger at the consumer or the doctors or the
hospitals as being responsible for increasing health care costs, but we are
all going to have to make sacrifices for the public good,' Thorne said.

'We need to come together and figure out how to deal with these difficult
times.'

Fielding the most questions from the audience during the two-hour meeting,
was State Rep. Alan Bates, D-Ashland. Bates, a family physician who spent
most of his weekend working in a hospital emergency room prior to the town
hall meeting, said he treated a 'huge' number of people who were uninsured.

'Health care is a basic human right,' Bates said, to the applause of the
audience that filled the SEI auditorium. 'People are not falling through
the cracks, they're falling through the Grand Canyon.'

Denying people health insurance is denying them health care. Bates added.

Making sure that the Oregon Health Plan is more efficient has taken up much
of his time in the Legislature during the past several weeks, he said, and
how legislators solve the $250 million budget shortfall will be crucial to
the plan's survival, Bates said.

'Budget cuts and efficiencies won't solve the problem,' he added. 'If we
don't raise more revenue, the number of uninsured people will grow.'

For every $1 that the state puts up, the federal government matches it with
$2, he noted, but if the state doesn't have the money, the match isn't
there.

Part of the solution, said John Duke, of the Safetynet Coalition, a group
that works with community health care clinics, is to bring health care
agencies, local businesses, nonprofit organizations and the insurance
industry together to develop a plan.

'We're all in different groups working on the effort. We have a cacophony
of different visions,' Duke said. 'But we have no strong central leader, no
common vision.

'There are good ideas and 'other' ideas,' he added, 'and they're equal in
power. But there isn't anybody ready yet to step forward and take the
lead.'

Article copyright The Skanner.
V.XXV

REJECTION OF LOW-INCOME CLINIC IN FRAMINGHAM DRAWS CRITICISM - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

Framingham officials rejected last night a controversial newhealth center for low-income patients, prompting advocates to allegethat the town has turned against its poor and immigrant residents.

'I would call it xenophobia,' said Zoila Feldman, president andchief executive of the Great Brook Valley Health Center, whichproposed the clinic.

While one Town Meeting member said he opposed it only because hewas tired of Framingham residents subsidizing social services,Feldman said the clinic was a casualty of the 'antiforeigner, anti-poor climate' that has arisen recently in Framingham, which is thehome of a large Brazilian immigrant population. Feldman said shewould appeal.

The Planning Board's rejection of the proposed $10 million, 24,000-square-foot clinic in downtown Framingham is unusual, said SelectmanJohn Stasik, a former Planning Board member.

Usually when a local planning board has concerns about a project,it will still be approved, but with conditions that reflect theboard's concerns.

'I've been doing this 25 years; this is unprecedented,' said PaulGalvani, attorney for the clinic, which is funded through federalgrants and private donors and charges patients on a sliding-scale feesystem based on their ability to pay. He said the decision will beappealed to either the state Land Court or Middlesex Superior Court.

Much of the planning board's discussion of the project focused onconcerns about traffic and parking. But clinic advocates largelyrejected such concerns as a red herring.

'They want a town that's lily white,' said the Rev. Joseph Pranzo,pastor of St. Tarcisius Catholic Church, who added that most clientswalk to the clinic.

He was one of about 75 people affiliated with a local church whoattended the meeting. Organized by Metropolitan InterfaithCongregations Acting for Hope, they held signs reading 'Yes forHealth Care Center,' in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

They far outnumbered the opponents of the clinic. Town Meetingmember Robert Bolles said he opposed it because it representedanother untaxed entity in town.

'I'm fed up,' he said. 'We don't need one more tax-free buildingin this town.'

His is a common refrain in Framingham, where a committee has beenformed to study the impact of social services. Some residents arearguing that Framingham provides much more than its fair share, whilesurrounding towns do little to serve the needy.

But the clinic and other social service providers argue that theservices are in Framingham because that's where the people who needthem live.

The clinic was proposed to replace the existing 2,300-square-footFramingham Community Health Center, which is also in downtown andcan't keep up with the demand, according to officials there.

The clinic has served about 3,800 people since it opened two yearsago, according to Pamela Helmold, executive director of the clinic.She estimates that 70 percent of the patients live in Framingham.

Marcos Contreras, a Framingham resident who uses the clinicbecause his carpentry job does not provide insurance, said the new,larger clinic is urgently needed by people who contribute to thecommunity.

'We are the people who work in Framingham,' he said. 'We are thehousekeepers, the landscapers. We have to have it.'

After the vote, he said: 'We'll be back. We are organized.'

Florida doctor, clinic face hearing in botched-abortion case - Deseret News (Salt Lake City)

TAMPA, Fla. -- Eighteen and pregnant, Sycloria Williams went toan abortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique to terminate her 23-week pregnancy.

Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair, medicated todilate her cervix and get her ready for the procedure.

Only Renelique didn't arrive in time. According to Williams andthe Florida Department of Health, she went into labor and delivereda live baby girl.

What Williams and the Health Department say happened next hasshocked people on both sides of the abortion debate: One of theclinic's owners, who has no medical license, cut the infant'sumbilical cord. Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plasticbiohazard bag and threw it out.

Police recovered the decomposing remains in a cardboard box aweek later after getting anonymous tips.

'I don't care what your politics are, what your morals are, thisshould not be happening in our community,' said Tom Pennekamp, aMiami attorney representing Williams in her lawsuit againstRenelique (ren-uh-LEEK') and the clinic owners.

The state Board of Medicine is to hear Renelique's case in Tampaon Friday and determine whether to strip his license. The stateattorney's homicide division is investigating, though no chargeshave been filed. Terry Chavez, a spokeswoman with the Miami-DadeCounty State Attorney's Office, said this week that prosecutors werenearing a decision.

Renelique's attorney, Joseph Harrison, called the allegations atbest 'misguided and incomplete' in an e-mail to The AssociatedPress. He didn't provide details.

The case has riled the anti-abortion community, which contendsthe clinic's actions constitute murder.

'The baby was just treated as a piece of garbage,' said TomBrejcha, president of The Thomas More Society, a law firm that isalso representing Williams. 'People all over the country are justaghast.'

Even those who support abortion rights are concerned about theallegations.

'It really disturbed me,' said Joanne Sterner, president of theBroward County chapter of the National Organization for Women, afterreviewing the administrative complaint against Renelique. 'I knowthat there are clinics out there like this. And I hope that we cankeep (women) from going to these types of clinics.'

According to state records, Renelique received his medicaltraining at the State University of Haiti. In 1991, he completed afour-year residency in obstetrics and gynecology at InterfaithMedical Center in New York.

New York records show that Renelique has made at least fivemedical malpractice payments in the past decade, the circumstancesof which were not detailed in the filings.

Several attempts to reach Renelique were unsuccessful. Some ofhis office numbers were disconnected, no home number could be foundand he did not return messages left with his attorney.

Williams struggled with the decision to have an abortion,Pennekamp said. She declined an interview request made through him.

She concluded she didn't have the resources or maturity to raisea child, he said, and went to the Miramar Women's Center on July 17,2006. Sonograms indicated she was 23 weeks pregnant, according tothe Department of Health. She met Renelique at a second clinic twodays later.

Renelique gave Williams laminaria, a drug that dilates thecervix, and prescribed three other medications, according to theadministrative complaint filed by the Health Department. She wastold to go to yet another clinic, A Gyn Diagnostic Center inHialeah, where the procedure would be performed the next day, onJuly 20, 2006.

Williams arrived in the morning and was given more medication.

The Department of Health account continues as follows: Justbefore noon she began to feel ill. The clinic contacted Renelique.Two hours later, he still hadn't shown up. Williams went into laborand delivered the baby.

'She came face to face with a human being,' Pennekamp said. 'Andthat changed everything.'

The complaint says one of the clinic owners, Belkis Gonzalez camein and cut the umbilical cord with scissors, then placed the baby ina plastic bag, and the bag in a trash can.

Williams' lawsuit offers a cruder account: She says Gonzalezknocked the baby off the recliner chair where she had given birth,onto the floor. The baby's umbilical cord was not clamped, allowingher to bleed out. Gonzalez scooped the baby, placenta and afterbirthinto a red plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

No working telephone number could be found for Gonzalez, and anattorney who has represented the clinic in the past did not return amessage.

At 23 weeks, an otherwise healthy fetus would have a slim butlegitimate chance of survival. Quadruplets born at 23 weeks lastyear at The Nebraska Medical Center survived.

An autopsy determined Williams' baby -- she named her Shanice --had filled her lungs with air, meaning she had been born alive,according to the Department of Health. The cause of death was listedas extreme prematurity.

The Department of Health believes Renelique committed malpracticeby failing to ensure that licensed personnel would be present whenWilliams was there, among other missteps.

The department wants the Board of Medicine, a separate agency, topermanently revoke Renelique's license, among other penalties. Hislicense is currently restricted, permitting him to only performabortions when another licensed physician is present and can reviewhis medical records.

Should prosecutors file murder charges, they'd have to prove thebaby was born alive, said Robert Batey, a professor of criminal lawat Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport. The defense mightcontend that the child would have died anyway, but most courts wouldnot allow that argument, he said.

CLEVELAND CLINIC RECOGNIZES COMMUNITY, EMPLOYEE LEADERS AT ANNUAL MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY OF CELEBRATION. - States News Service

CLEVELAND, OH -- The following information was released by the Cleveland Clinic:

Cleveland Clinic employees and community members will join in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Friday, January 13, 2012, at the InterContinental Hotel and Conference Center, 9801 Carnegie Ave., in Cleveland.

The program begins at 7:15 a.m. with an interfaith service led by the Rev. Christine Thompson, a Cleveland-based pastor for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and continues with a breakfast program at 8 a.m.

The morning includes a keynote address from the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr., Pastor Emeritus of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, and the presentation of the Cleveland Clinic Lifetime of Service Award to the Rev. Dr. Marvin A. McMickle, who is retiring as Senior Pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland to become the 12th President of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in Rochester, N.Y. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is among the school's alumni.

Dr. McMickle is the second recipient of the award, which was established by Cleveland Clinic to honor and thank a serving leader who has exhibited extraordinary strength of spirit and remarkable efforts in their public service. Dr. Moss was the first recipient in 2011.

Dr. McMickle is widely known as a prophetic minister, scholarly lecturer and thought-provoking writer. He was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College. He is author of 14 books, as well as 80 sermons and articles on topics such African-American heritage, marriage and cancer. At Antioch Baptist Church, Dr. McMickle led the congregation in organizing a special ministry for people affected by HIV/AIDS and he chronicled his bout with prostate cancer in the book, Battling Prostate Cancer: Getting from 'Why Me' to 'What Next.'

'During his time in Northeast Ohio, Dr. McMickle has built a legacy of advocacy and caring in our community, marked by efforts that support individuals seeking better health and fulfillment,' said Cleveland Clinic CEO Delos M. 'Toby' Cosgrove, MD.

Cleveland Clinic's 2011 Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration will also include recognition of hospital employees who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and service to the community.

More information about the Office of Diversity is available at www.ClevelandClinic.org/Diversity.

Cleveland Clinic News Service is available to provide broadcast-quality interviews and B-roll upon request.

About Cleveland Clinic

Vatican paper praises Schneider Hospital as 'bridge to peace' - Jerusalem Post

00-00-0000
Headline: Vatican paper praises Schneider Hospital as 'bridge to peace'Byline: JUDY SIEGELEdition; DailySection: NewsPage: 04

Wednesday, July 30, 2003 -- CNEWA World, the official Vatican publication of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, which read by 92,000 of the leaders of the Catholic Church around the world, has for the first time published a major article praising an Israeli medical institution.

The July-August 2003 issue features a four-page article titled "Children's Hospital Heals More Than Illness" on the Schneider Children's Medical Center for Israel (SCMCI) in Petah Tikva.

The unusual article praises SCMCI for serving as a "bridge to peace" and describes its help to Arabs, such as transplanting the kidney of 19-year-old Yoni Jesner, murdered in a Tel Aviv suicide bomb attack, into the body of Yasmin Abu Ramila, a seven-year-old Palestinian girl. The little girl's father is quoted as saying that "they saved my daughter. Part of their son is living in her." The story, by CNEWA editor Eileen Reinhard, notes that the hospital has raised the quality of pediatric care in all of Israel.

The author praises Irving and the late Helen Schneider, who donated much of the money to build the hospital that opened 11 years ago, and who made the institution their lives' work. SCMCI development and foreign affairs adviser Uri Bar-Ner explained that the Schneider family has had especially deep ties with the Catholic Church in the US, especially with Archimandrate Robert Stern, who is responsible for Vatican affairs in the Middle East and Africa, and with nuns in New York and Chicago. One nun, Christiane Molidor, became good friends with the Schneiders, and when Helen died in 2001, she asked the church to do something to honor her memory. The article, which also reported that an interfaith women's health clinic will open at SCMCI in Helen's memory, was the result.

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