Compassionate Patient Advocates

Rabbi David
Wiesenberg,
MS, BS

was ordained in 1999 since when he has ministered to Jewish congregations in Waterbury, Connecticut and Frederick, Maryland. He also served as a chaplain at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Baltimore. Active in interfaith activities, he rose to Vice President of the Greater Waterbury Interfaith Ministries.
During his ministry, he provided pastoral guidance and comfort to the sick, the dying and the bereaved. He believed passionately in treating those in pain and ill health with utmost compassion, respect and dignity. Here he often took on the role of patient advocate, for example, overcoming mindless bureaucracy on behalf of a veteran who desperately needed a vital operation without which he would be paralyzed. Another memorable example was liaising between a family and hospital doctors to switch off a life support machine that was keeping a young man artificially alive in a manner both dignified and sensitive to the family's religious principles.
Previously he had advocated for his first wife Melanie who had died at only 29 years old from an unusually aggressive form of multiple sclerosis. This included negotiating with her specialist when he initially refused to admit her into hospital for treatment; and later, shortly before she died, when the specialist denied that she was in acute pain and refused to prescribe pain-relieving analgesics. In his past career, Rabbi Wiesenberg worked as a systems analyst and professor of computing.

Marilyn
Rosenberg,
BSN, RN

is a dedicated and patient-focused Registered Nurse with proven expertise in acute patient care, education, and patient/family advocacy during her 17 years as a nurse. As an instructor with Montgomery College, Maryland, she has educated aspiring entrants in the nursing refresher program to return to the profession, is a certified CNA (certified nursing assistant) instructor and has taught HUC (health unit coordinator) classes which has enabled the graduates to begin their hospital careers.
During her long career, she has demonstrated outstanding interpersonal and communication skills, and has been recognized for her exceptional capacity for empathy and compassion.
Marilyn graduated from Columbia Union College (Takoma Park, MD) with a BSN Magna Cum Laude. She is a volunteer nurse ready for emergency deployment through the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene/Emergency Preparedness.
Marilyn's passion for nursing was dramatically enhanced after an horrific motor vehicle accident in 1996 almost ending her life and that of her family's. A deeper appreciation of life with all it's beauty and luster was magnified. Life is precious and everyone needs to have an advocate.
She lives with her husband and pet dog "Honey" who, she feels, is almost human!