Hadassah Hospitals Rise to the Occasion
Since the trauma inflicted on Israel since October 7, Hadassah as stepped up to heal countless physically and psychologically injured people. As the only trauma 1 hospitals in Jerusalem, Hadassah Medical Organization has treated over 400 of the most seriously wounded soldiers.
In response to the urgent need for rehabilitation services for Israel’s wounded soldiers and civilians, Hadassah opened the Gandel Rehabilitation Center on Mt. Scopus in January, four months ahead of schedule. This 323,000-square-foot, eight-story center offers a host of special treatments, including physical and occupational therapy, physiotherapy, hydrotherapy and respiratory and orthopedic rehabilitation. It houses a PTSD center and rehabilitation for neurological problems caused by brain, spinal cord and nervous system injuries.
The Gandel Rehabilitation Center is Hadassah's gift to the people of Israel. It will be able to care for 10,000 patients annually. It features 140 in-patient beds and an out-patient clinic that will be able to serve 250 patients a day. While the need for such a center has existed for a number of years, it intensified due to the war in Gaza. The Gandel Center, with its most up-to-date facilities, will operate at the highest standards, in line with leading centers all over the world.
Hadassah’s End The Silence Campaign
On October 7 Israeli women and girls were brutally raped and mutilated by Hamas terrorists, who used premeditated mass sexual violence and torture as a weapon of war. Today, the terrorists continue to sexually abuse the hostages — women and men — they are holding in captivity. While the facts that have emerged are so disturbing it’s hard to process them, they have inconceivably been justified and denied by some.
Hadassah, which has been a voice for action since the start of this brutal war, is asking every member and supporter to be part of End The Silence, a global campaign to speak out, raise awareness and demand justice. As part of the campaign, Hadassah has petitioned the UN to pursue an independent, trauma-informed, unbiased investigation and seek justice for the victims.
Hadassah’s Essential Women-Focused Work
Long before October 7, Hadassah’s Bat Ami Center for Victims of Sexual Abuse has been working to heal sexual abuse victims physically, mentally and emotionally with advanced treatment methods. Since the war began, the Center has advised extensively on treatment of survivors and of returning hostages.
Launched in response to the war, Hadassah’s Bridge to Resilience program is a mental health initiative that includes a rapid-response emergency PTSD support center; expanded mental health staff; specialized trauma treatment training for mental health professionals; emergency mental health hotlines and increased child life services.
Hadassah’s Youth Aliyah Villages host displaced families from the South
Like everywhere in Israel following the horrific attack on Israeli residents by Hamas terrorists on October 7, Hadassah’s two Youth Aliyah villages, Meir Shfeyah in the north and Hadassah Neurim in central Israel, are trying to adjust to a new reality.
Because some of the villages’ students are in Israel without any family nearby, immediately after the attack the staff mobilized to provide a safe and secure environment for those teens who remained on campus. Living quarters had to be reconfigured to accommodate families who moved to the villages after being evacuated from the south.