JERUSALEM (Press Release)–Urology patients at Hadassah Medical Organization were the first to move on Monday into its new Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower at Hadassah-Ein Kerem in Jerusalem. In subsequent weeks, patients from the Departments of Orthopedics, General Surgery, ENT, Plastic Surgery, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, OB/GYN and Vascular Surgery will be transferred. Toward the end of the year, 14 of the 20 new operating rooms and the major new intensive care units will be opened. The remaining inpatient departments and intensive care units will move in 2013.
“The new hospital tower at Hadassah-Ein Kerem is among Hadassah’s most significant contributions to the State of Israel,” said Marcie Natan, National President of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America. “It expresses the Zionist vision of generations of Hadassah women and emphasizes our deep commitment to the development of health and education in Israel. During the last 100 years, Hadassah women have established institutions and created projects that dramatically impacted the fields of health, education and the empowerment of women in the country.”
A cadre of distinguished speakers was on hand to mark the occasion, a keystone of the centennial celebrations of Hadassah. “This is one of the most important buildings in the city,” said Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, as he commended the women of Hadassah in his remarks. “Thank you for your dedication and devotion to Hadassah. Thank you for your show of love for the people of Jerusalem.”
Tower fundraising campaign co-chairs Judy and Sidney Swartz, major Hadassah supporters, presided at the ceremony, and members of the family of the late Bill Davidson were honored for the family’s groundbreaking contribution. Davidson family member Emily Reaser announced that her family will provide a subsequent matching gift of up to $12.5 million.
Natan honored immediate past Hadassah Director General Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef for his 11 years of leadership and his role in the construction of the tower. She announced that the new Shlomo Mor-Yosef Prize for Excellence will be awarded annually to an outstanding young doctor to acknowledge Mor-Yosef’s commitment to the next generation of physicians.
“We are extremely proud of the new Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower and most appreciative of all who were involved in helping us realize this vision,” said current Hadassah Director General Prof. Ehud Kokia. “Throughout the planning and construction, the care and comfort of our patients were uppermost in our minds. The result is proof that the medicine of the future is already here. The Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower is one of the most comfortable and sophisticated inpatient facilities in Israel and the region, providing a healing environment unlike any other in Israel.”
The Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Sidney Schwartz concluded the ceremony by affixing a mezuzah to the new building.
Also attending were U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro and his wife, Julie Fisher; Deputy Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman; Hadassah Board of Directors Chairman Esther Dominissini, who is the board’s first woman chairman; along with other members of the board, Hadassah leaders, government and municipality officials, senior healthcare system officials, representatives from the principal construction companies Shikun & Binui Solel Boneh and Electra, architects from Spector – Amisar – Shauer in Israel and HKS in Texas, and representatives of many companies and authorities involved in the planning, approval and construction of the new building.
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Preceding provided by Hadassah