Two Israeli hospitals will be undergoing massive upgrades, according to an announcement by the Jewish National Fund, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael.
Baruch Padeh (Poriya) Medical Center in Tiberias and Ziv Medical Center in Tzfat will be refurbished with brand-new operating rooms, CT scanners and other medical services for residents in Israel’s north as part of a NIS 50 million ($14 million-plus) investment.
The decision to upgrade the hospitals was approved by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and chairman of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael Danny Atar last year as part of a NIS 400 million investment in education, health and agriculture in Israel’s north.
A large chunk of the funding will be used to create special defensive shields for operating rooms and other parts of the hospitals, including the protection of essential infrastructural components like gas, electricity and water mains.
Construction of a shielded emergency room at Haifa’s Bnai Zion Medical Center is expected to begin in several months and should be operational in two years.
A new shielded emergency room was inaugurated at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon six weeks ago, with operating rooms, a pediatric intensive-care ward and a trauma facility set to open later this year.
Some of the funding will also go to a new radiation therapy device at Ziv hospital to treat cancer patients.
