Page 338 - 20818_park-c_efi

to stumble by desecrating Shabbos if he travels to the distant hospital
because in the situation where he does not have a referral slip to the
closer hospital he must drive to the further one.
One can perhaps add to this the view of the Maharshag (Orach
Chaim, Vol. 2 #14), who explains the following: If a dangerously ill
patient needs a fig to eat, and even though there is a fig available,
someone goes and picks a new one from the tree, he has done wrong
and transgressed a prohibition on Shabbos. On the other hand, once
he has done it, it is not considered a violation of a Torah prohibition
since, he ultimately did the forbidden act for the sake of a dangerously
ill patient. Therefore, he is not liable for this prohibition. According to
this explanation, it follows that even if the driver travels to the distant
hospital, he did not violate a Torah prohibition, since the act of driv-
ing was done in order to save a life. The halacha, however, is to save the
person’s life using the least stringent form of prohibition first. If it is
possible to save the patient’s life by violating a less serious prohibition,
it is forbidden to violate a serious prohibition. Some poskim rule that
this halacha is only Rabbinic and not from the Torah, as explained in
Kiryas Sefer (Hilchos Ma’achalos Assuros 14, and in Sefer Kol Sofer). It
is possible that a physician, who is involved in kindness (chesed), is
exempt from paying expenses in order to prevent this transgression.
[My father-in-law, Rav Y. S. Elyashiv disagrees with the Maharshag. If
there is medication available in the house, he explains, and one travels
by car to bring the same medication from another place, this is not an
act of saving a life but a simple outing.] This matter requires further
study.
This applies if the road to the distant hospital does not pass the
close hospital. If the driver will pass right by the closer hospital on his
way, then drving on towards the more distant hospital is completely
superfluous. The driver is not permitted to continue driving unless
the physician did not give him a referral to the closer hospital, as ex-
plained above. And if the closer hospital will admit the patient even
without a referral, then there is no allowance for sending the patient
to the distant hospital.
Let us summarise our response to the military physician:
324 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein
#
THERE IS A PRIVATE
HOSPITAL CLOSE BY,
108
AND A PUBLIC HOSPITAL
FURTHER AWAY. WHERE
SHOULD A PERSON GO
ON SHABBOS?
1 Questions 20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 11 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:46:25 | SR:-- | Magenta
#20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 11 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:46:25 | SR:-- | Yellow 20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 11 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:46:25 | SR:
In my position as a physician in a military clinic I came across a prac-
tical halachic question that I wish to present to the Rav:
If a soldier is sick and needs to be referred to the emergency room,
he is sent to the hospital in a fully equipped vehicle, with the medical
referral form. The army has agreements with a number of hospitals
in Israel (called “integrated hospitals”), such that the referral form is
also considered the financial commitment. If the patient is sent to a
non-integrated hospital, the army is obligated to pay a higher price.
Since I am located close to Rechovot, the closest integrated hospital
is Assaf Harofeh Hospital in Tzerifin. However, Kaplan Hospital is
closer.
On Shabbos, transfer to Tzerifin requires additional desecration of
Shabbos by the ambulance driver or the patient himself. My questions
are:
1. Am I obligated to send the patient to Kaplan Hospital in order
to prevent additional Shabbos desecration?
2. Am I obligated to pay for the financial damage I caused the
military?
Where should a person go on Shabbos? 2 321