Ido Sharir, CEO of Reuth Tel Aviv Rehabilitation Hospital, discussed the current state of rehabilitative medicine in Israel at The Jerusalem Post Conference in New York on Monday.
Reuth TLV is one of the largest rehabilitation hospitals in Israel, with 356 inpatient beds spread across three divisions specializing in general, geriatric, and respiratory rehabilitation. The hospital currently treats one-third of Israel’s outpatient rehabilitation patients.
Sharir said there is a severe shortage of beds in Israel’s rehabilitation hospitals. He reported that the Tel Aviv Municipality allocated a new plot of land in north Tel Aviv for a more spacious facility that will ultimately increase Reuth TLV’s capacity to 600 beds.
He discussed the treatments that the hospital has provided to those who have been affected by the war, from wounded soldiers and security personnel to women with eating disorders, whose symptoms have returned due to the stress of the war.
Reuth has one of the leading pain clinics in Israel, and Sharir added that cases of pain syndrome have recurred due to the war. Sharir spoke about one patient at the institute whose son is being held captive in Gaza. “We are trying to give her relief for her pain with day-to-day treatments,” he said.
The war has also affected staff members at Reuth, as many have been drafted to IDF reserve duties. “We have many spouses of reservists who try to manage between work life and home. We provide a lot of support,” he said.
Reuth Tel Aviv Rehabilitation Hospital sponsored a portion of The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference. www.jpost.com/AC24