I have decided to start cleaning out my notes from our recent mission to Israel,and to perhaps blog some of the meetings and events not done by most visitors.
Our group from the shiur in Talmud that has met for about 23 years on a weekly basis in Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern N.Y..This was our 5th group trip to Israel.During course of these trips,we have visited many hospitals ,including Hadassah,Shaare Zedek, Laniado, Rambam and Ben-Gurion.
This year we visited the biggesr secret in Israel,namely The Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya.It is a 700 bed teaching hospital with a staff of 2000 doctors and is affiliated with the Technion Medical School.However the real suprise is an underground 450 bed medical facility all prepared for any emergency as occured in the last Lebanese war.
Some of the innovations are truly state of the art,such as the fluid for renal dialysis being pumped through pipes in the walls,alongside other medical necessities.
During the 1962 Lebanese war, the hospital received the largest number of civilian and military casualties.The underground facilities allowed them to function, despite the aboveground part of the hospital being hit by rockets.
What is also amazing is that non-Jews head departments ,and the hospital itself.Walking through the wards and halls one sees a mosaic of Jers,Druze ,Moslems and Christians both as patients and staff-all working together amicably.
Truly an inspiring place to visit and support.
