The pandemic became a tool to hone all of us at Rambam into a cohesive and united team of more than 5,700 nurses, doctors, administrators, and housekeeping, and maintenance people focused on providing the best care possible; minimizing the threat of infection for our staff and patients; and providing dignity and an empathetic ear to the families of quarantined patients. In 2020, the Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital opened for a few months and hundreds of patients were treated there by our dedicated teams. This was no small undertaking, but it passed the test for wartime use – just for a different war.
Throughout the pandemic, we continued to care for the people of our region and pursue scientific discovery, and made significant progress toward completing the West Campus. Key departments in the Eyal Ofer Heart Hospital have just opened, with more to follow as resources become available. The vision for the Joseph Fishman Oncology Center will soon be reality with completion of the Danny and Cathy Rosenkranz Oncology ER and our complementary medicine facilities. With the exterior of Helmsley Health Discovery Tower completed, we are now seeking additional support to finish the interior.
The collaborative on-site research that will be performed there is more essential than ever. Thanks to your passionate and committed generosity, once completed, the Tower will leverage our local and international multidisciplinary academic and industry collaborations to streamline medical discovery from the bench to the bedside.
Rambam’s success can be directly attributed to our fantastic leadership team, our courageous healthcare professionals, our dedicated support staff, and you,
our friends of Rambam from Israel and around the world who are standing by us. With that in mind, I would like to take a moment to remember two of Rambam’s dearest friends – Paul Amir, one of our 2014 Rambam Award recipients, who passed away in 2020 and whose legacy includes refurbishment of the Herta and Paul Amir Internal Medicine Building and the renovation of the Herta and Paul Amir Department
of Internal Medicine A, and Eitan Wertheimer, one of the founding fathers of the hospital's present-day campus, who passed away earlier this year. Paul’s compassionate generosity and Eitan’s leadership and philanthropy have left an indelible mark on Rambam.
As we enter a new post-pandemic world, it is symbolic that all of the 2022 Rambam awardees have made contributions that embrace Rambam’s vision to make the impossible possible by bringing health and healing to our people, our nation, and the world – letting nothing stop us from reaching those goals – not a pandemic, not political instability, nor any other obstacle. Together, we are creating the future of medicine for the sake of humankind.
Sincerely,
Professor Michael Halberthal
Director General
Rambam Health Care Campus