Rambam Health Care Campus employees are working even harder than usual these days as the hospital receives growing numbers of coronavirus patients. With educational frameworks closed, Rambam opted to open an educational center for the employees' children, ensuring that their parents can continue to work during this crucial time.
Dr. Halberthal with the teaching team and kids. Photography: Rambam HCC
Rambam Health Care Campus has opened an educational center for the children of its employees, who, as workers in Israel’s healthcare sector are considered essential during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Employees at Rambam Health Care Campus are considered essential workers, and many are currently focused on the COVID-19 crisis. However, alongside their public health commitment, quite a few are also facing challenges at home because there is currently no formal framework to provide care and supervision of—or educational activities for—their children.
In order to enable hospital staffers to carry out their duties without having to worry about what their children are up to, Rambam's management has opened an educational center that provides support and instruction for them each day. These are currently classrooms for children aged 6–11, though the age range is expected to expand.
The center is located in the Ironi A School, which is adjacent to the hospital and is open from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm. Soldiers, with teacher training, engage students and provide them with various educational and experiential activities. To date, approximately 40 children have been enrolled, with more expected to enroll in the near future.
Members of Rambam’s administration recently visited the school to see the children’s activities and the educational staff, and were impressed by what was being done. Rambam's Director General, Dr. Michael Halberthal, even took the time to play ball with some of the kids.
"The goal is to enable our teams to do their very important work without having to worry," explains Dr. Vardit Gepstein, an attending physician in the Department of Pediatrics B and in the Pediatric Endocrinology Unit, and a member of the Rambam administration who is responsible for the project. "We care for the children of our employees and they in turn care for the health of the patients."