Fewer than half of the operating rooms in Israeli hospitals are “protected spaces”—that is, built to withstand blasts and shrapnel from conventional weapons.
In many hospitals, surgeons are forced to leave patients in the middle of an operation when a siren sounds warning of incoming missiles if the operating room is not protected, Kan News reported on Monday.
Among them are major institutions including Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer in Ramat Gan, Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah and Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
In addition, only 30% to 40% of hospital beds in general hospitals in Israel are in protected spaces, the news site said.
The Ministry of Health said that in the next two months, it will need 200 million shekels ($52 million) to protect 50% of hospital beds.
Responding to the report, the chairman of the Israel Medical Association, Dr. Zeev Feldman, called on the “Ministry of Health and the [IDF] Home Front Command to expand the provision of services in the hospitals, including testing/institutes/clinics and surgeries, to prevent irreversible harm to citizens’ health.”
