Rambam Hospital sets example

DAVE GORDON

With most news out of Israel reflecting strife and sadness – the Fogel family murders and the Jerusalem bus station bombing, for example – two Israeli doctors, one Jewish and one Muslim, are showing that coexistence is possible.

Prof. Karl Skorecki and Dr. Suheir Assady of Rambam Health-Care Campus in Haifa, Israel, will be in Vancouver to attend the ISN World Congress of Nephrology taking place at the Vancouver Convention Centre from April 8 to 12. While in town, the doctors will be speaking at Congregation Beth Israel on Sunday, April 10, at 7:30 p.m.

Canadian Friends of Rambam (CFRAM), together with Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, is hosting the event, entitled, Two Faces in One: Rambam Health-Care Campus – Israel’s Best-Kept Secret.

Skorecki is the director of medical and research development at the Haifa-based hospital. Assady, who was born and resides in Nazareth, is Skorecki’s former student and now runs the hospital’s nephrology department. She is the first Israeli Muslim woman directing a large medical department in an Israeli hospital. Together, Skorecki explained in an interview with the Jewish Independent, they represent “a model of peaceful coexistence in a turbulent region.”

Of the Vancouver presentation, he said, however, “We’ll stay away from politics, obviously, as we believe very firmly that health and science is not political. We try to solve problems for human beings, without regard for where they come from or what they believe.”

CFRAM’s mission, said its director, Suzanne Kaye, is to promote and generate support for this major Israeli health-care facility. “We wanted to take this wonderful opportunity to introduce two of Rambam’s leading medical professionals to the community and to tell the unique story of Rambam,” she told the Independent. “The one thing that really stands out for me about Rambam is how it reflects the diverse make-up of Haifa and the north of Israel and how everyone works together in harmony for the benefit of the patients and research.”

Cooperation between Rambam and countries around the world occurs regularly. Over the past year, Rambam has shared medical expertise with countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. For example, 25 physicians, nurses, teachers and community workers from Uganda attended a two-week course in Israel, at which Rambam staff shared the latest HIV medical knowledge. And, last August, a doctor from the Palestinian Authority completed two years of advanced orthopedic surgical training under the auspices of the Peres Centre for Peace.

Rambam is a 1,000-bed facility serving more than two million people living in northern Israel. More trauma patients are seen at Rambam daily than at all the other hospitals in Israel combined. To facilitate the growth of the hospital, Skorecki heads the initiative to build a biomedical discovery tower at the facility. “We have beds, basic research, scientists,” he explained. “What there hasn’t been a place for yet is … to help specific patient problems, such as diabetes. We do that, even though we don’t have a building for it yet.” His goal is to include laboratories for clinical research focused on cancer, neuroscience and genetics.

“It’s a big project and we have some support but we’re always looking for more from donors, investors and supporters,” said Skorecki.

Also in the works is a new cardiovascular hospital, which will allow for expansion and modernization of the cardiac surgery department, to enhance clinical, teaching and research skills.

In the summer of 2006, Hezbollah missiles rained down on Israel and Rambam withstood some 45 attacks. Despite this, the hospital admitted about 7,000 patients, among them 850 Israeli soldiers and civilians injured by missiles. It became apparent that there was a need for an underground hospital.

The project to build an underground facility is in progress and, during peacetime, it will operate as a three-level parking garage. It will be able to transform in a matter of three days to provide a fully functioning hospital for about 2,000 patients, able to withstand missile, chemical and biological warfare. It is designed to generate its own power supply and to store three days worth of oxygen, drinking water and medical supplies.

Prior to his post at Rambam, Skorecki headed up departments at the University of Toronto and Hospital for Sick Children before he and his family made aliyah in 1995. He is known for his groundbreaking stem-cell research with cancer therapies, and his pioneering discoveries of DNA markers have identified shared ancestry among Kohanim, Leviim, Jews of the Diaspora, as well as potential Israelite origins of various non-Jewish populations.

For more information on the free April 10 public lecture, e-mail [email protected] or visit cframbam.com.

Dave Gordon is a freelance writer. His website is davegordonwrites.com.

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