News and Events

Rambam’s Pediatric Emergency Department Takes First Place in Ministry of Health Patient Satisfaction Survey

Publication Date: 1/9/2020 10:00 AM

A survey conducted to assess patient satisfaction in Israel’s emergency departments found that the Cheryl Spencer Pediatric Emergency Department in the Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital at Rambam Health Care Campus is the best emergency department in the country.

The Cheryl Spencer Pediatric Emergency Department in Rambam’s Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital. Photography: Eran Yardeni.The Cheryl Spencer Pediatric Emergency Department in Rambam’s Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital. Photography: Eran Yardeni.

Against the backdrop of seasonal overcrowding in hospital emergency rooms throughout Israel, Rambam’s Cheryl Spencer Pediatric Emergency Department tops the Ministry of Health’s recently published list of the country’s best emergency medicine departments, receiving the highest marks in the Ministry’s 2019 incentive program. This is the third time the survey has been conducted, measuring patient satisfaction and the treatment experience according to a series of different parameters.

In Category A of emergency medicine departments for children, which covers large hospitals and Level 1 trauma centers that receive more than 24,000 patient visits per year (including Rambam), Ruth Rappaport Children's Hospital took first place in the national ranking with a score of 92% –a slight increase from last year when it was ranked second with a score of 91.8% in patient satisfaction.

Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital received more than 27,000 patient visits in 2019 – a figure that increases each year. Of these, approximately 9,400 were trauma cases. The Cheryl Spencer Pediatric Emergency Department, which serves as the Level 1 trauma center for the entire northern region, is one of the busiest in the country. "The large numbers of patients and the complexity of treatment at Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital is the reality our staff face every day," says Dr. Michael Halberthal, the Director and CEO of Rambam, and also a pediatric critical care specialist. “Despite these challenges, our Pediatric Emergency Department is successfully maintaining its impressive achievements, and has even improved in providing an optimal treatment experience for our patients and their families. This is an essential part of medical care, where the individual is central to patient care, guiding us in our work.

The Ministry of Health recently publish another two reports in which Rambam was particularly noteworthy in its achievements – one in which Rambam’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) was named the best NICU in Israel, as well as one of the top two most improved NICUs in the country. The second report ranked Rambam as the number one large hospital in terms of infection prevention. This achievement is particularly notable, given that two years before, Rambam was in last place in this category.

The National Emergency Department Incentive Program was launched in 2015, and includes personnel additions (nurses, physicians, physician assistants, administrators), training, and equipment, as well as encouraging procedural improvements to promote work efficiency. The program measures various components, including wait times, personnel recruitment, presence of a senior physician, and other issues such as computing, implementing processes to improve patient experiences, and more.