Rambam's Health Discovery Tower is Underway

A memorandum of understanding was signed by Rambam Health Care Campus and The University of Haifa during a small ceremony held at Rambam today. In attendance were Moshe Kahlon, the Minister of the Finance; Rabbi Yaakov Litzman, the Minister of Health; Professor Rafi Beyar, Rambam's director, and Professor Ron Robin, President of Haifa University. The purpose of this historic agreement is a joint venture valued at 400 million shekels.

This outstanding collaboration was launched today with the signing of an agreement between the University of Haifa and Rambam. This is the first time that an academic institution and some of the world's most outstanding doctors in their fields have come together to build a center aimed at stimulating medical-applied research in Israel.

The 20-story Health Discovery Tower, which will cost NIS 400 million to build, will be situated within the Rambam campus and be funded by the joint efforts of Haifa University and Rambam. The tower will facilitate collaboration between Rambam research and development labs and Haifa University’s Health Sciences faculties. The tower will also be home to Technion-affiliated laboratories as well as technological incubators and other research institutions.

Research conducted within the Health Discovery Tower will forge collaboration between the clinical research and medical activities of the hospital and the world of research and technology. It will also give academic researchers access to essential clinical resources such as imaging devices and advanced equipment that is usually only found within the hospital. This collaboration between doctors, researchers, and engineers will significantly shorten the path towards the advancement of research and create fertile ground for innovation in the life sciences industry.

"Rambam is already an example of groundbreaking research that springs from interdisciplinary collaboration. Much of the research conducted by Rambam's doctors has changed the face of medicine internationally, such as the development of new medical imaging technologies, new surgical methods, and minimally invasive technologies," says Professor Rafi Beyar, director and CEO of Rambam. "The Health Discovery Tower will bring together the foremost creative medical minds with engineering and technology specialists, right beside the patients themselves, whose needs are dictated by the doctors and surgeons in the hospital setting. All of these activities, centered around the Health Discovery Tower, will further develop the life sciences industry. I welcome the support of the Ministries of Finance and Health, which have helped us to quickly realize this vision."

The tower will have 20 floors, measuring 1,370 meters each. It will be designed according to official 'green' building standards in order to minimize damage to the environment and reduce the waste involved in construction. Energy efficient materials and methods will be implemented as well as plans for rainwater use.

Rambam Health Care Campus and the University of Haifa expect the Health Discovery Tower to serve as an engine for the economic and scientific growth of the life sciences industry and to attract physicians and researchers from Israel and abroad seeking a special combination of medicine and research, and serve as an incentive to bring back Israeli doctors and scientists currently working abroad.