While most of the residents of Kiryat Shmona - Israel’s northernmost city – have been evacuated, the site preparations for a new medical center, supported by Jewish National Fund-USA, were completed, bringing the area one step closer to a much-needed and long-awaited facility.
With rising tensions and ongoing rocket attacks from Hezbollah on Israel’s Northern border, the Israeli Health Ministry ordered hospitals in the region to be prepared to receive thousands of wounded people in the event of a massive attack.
Due to various constraints and funding challenges, Israel’s North is one of the sparsest areas in the country for medical facilities, further highlighting the critical need for this new medical center.
Jewish National Fund-USA has long supported Israel’s regional healthcare space, having created a network of medical centers and resilience facilities catering to those living outside the country’s central cities. The new Robert and Gale C. Kares Kiryat Shmona Medical Center will provide medical care for the city’s 22,000 residents and thousands more in Israel’s far north.
“Even during these challenging times, when most city residents and large parts of the Galilee have been evacuated from their homes, we must focus on the region’s future,” said Alon Badihi, Jewish National Fund-USA’s Executive Director in Israel. “Kiryat Shmona, together with its partners headed by Jewish National Fund-USA, are preparing for the day after.”
The new state-of-the-art medical center will offer 24/7 emergency services, mammography, MRIs, physiotherapy, a women’s health clinic, well-baby clinics, and other services to improve healthcare accessibility for residents, mirroring those in the central part of the country.
Due to the location’s earthquake risk, the construction process adheres to high standards, particularly in earthquake protection. The medical center’s strategic location, connecting the older center of the city to new neighborhoods and communities in the northern Golan and Upper Galilee, also positions it near an IDF base, potentially saving lives in disaster scenarios.
“Today, we understand more than ever the incredible significance of having a medical center right here,” Badihi added.
In the coming weeks, the medical center’s skeleton will begin with pouring a 17,000-square-foot cement floor, which will be the pivotal connection between the infrastructure and the building itself.
“Today, we can say that the medical center is the only significant public structure in the entire area whose construction has not yet been halted,” says Badihi. “We must continue to ensure the safety of the evacuated residents, and it will play a factor in buying back their trust in settling the Galilee.”
Kiryat Shmona, with the help and support of Jewish National Fund-USA, hopes to complete the construction of the building within six months, contingent on the security situation in the North.
“This magnificent task which we have undertaken must not stop!” exclaimed Badihi. “This is our national duty, and we will continue to build as if there are no budgetary obstacles. We will continue to raise money as if the war hadn’t started. Again, this is a national mission, which is not a luxury. This is a basic and vital need for the residents of the North.”
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