The World of Innovation at Rambam Health Care Campus
Haifa hospital is creating the future of medicine, not only for Israel’s north, but for the entire world.
By ALAN ROSENBAUM
At the Jerusalem Post Conference, Prof. Rafael (Rafi) Beyar, immediate past director of Rambam Health Care Campus, reported on the new developments at the sprawling hospital campus in Haifa, taking the audience on a journey through cutting edge medicine and innovation at the hospital’s Ruth Rapaport Children’s Hospital, the Josef Fishman Oncology Center, and the Eyal Ofer Heart Hospital.Rambam Health Care Campus, with over 5,000 employees, is not only the biggest employer in northern Israel, but is the top Level 1 trauma center for the North. Its location between two strong academic institutions – the Technion and the University of Haifa – has placed it in a unique position of innovation and invention.Beyar described several of the technological developments and inventions in use at the hospital, including the first human embryonic stem cell, robotic and minimally invasive surgery, acute stroke therapy, focus ultrasound for tremors and Parkinson’s disease, and oncology solutions. The centerpiece of Rambam’s development is the Helmsley Health Discovery Tower where, he said proudly, “medicine meets technology and humanity.”One of the most advanced sections of the hospital is the Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital. Conceived after the Second Lebanon War in 2006, when 60 rockets fell within a one-kilometer radius of the hospital, it can be converted from an underground, three-level, 1,500-vehicle parking into a 2,000-bed hospital within 72 hours.Rambam Health Care Center is creating the future of medicine, not only for the North, but for the entire world, he said.The story was written in cooperation with Rambam Health Care Center.