Following recent government approval, we have unveiled a preliminary master plan with major milestones set for 2048 – Israel’s 100th birthday – and 2065. We will become a 2,700-bed hospital with nine and a half million square feet of space from the close to two million square feet of space today. Our vision is grounded in reality. Our commitment is to meet the day-to-day needs of our patients. Despite the past year’s challenges, Rambam continues to grow. We now have 1,100 beds and are expanding our surgical services with two new operating rooms and a new adult surgical intensive care unit. A new 54-bed Neurological Section and new shock-trauma step-down unit have both opened, making Rambam’s Trauma Center and Neurology Section the largest ones in the country. We continue to share our knowledge beyond Israel’s borders. Just this year the international trauma school has given workshops in the United Arab Emirates, India, Poland, Georgia, Sao Paul, and
San Francisco, among others.

Research collaborations are the heart and soul of medical advance. Local (Technion-IIT and University of Haifa) and international collaborations include partnering with Stanford Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and most recently, the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in Brazil. Rambam’s ongoing collaborations with medical industry are heavily invested in digital medicine.
I cannot ignore the challenges we face, particularly on the national level. The Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital had to prove itself during the pandemic. Now it remains ready should the need arise. I am particularly proud of our staff’s commitment to keep every political, religious, and social disagreement off-campus. I don’t take it for granted that our staff – more than 6,000 individuals representing every sector, faith, and ethnicity – exemplify pluralism with respect and dignity.
This year we began with an important tradition. A multicultural delegation of 48 members represented Rambam and participated in the “March of the Living” in Poland. Visiting the concentration camps, we reaffirmed our vows to save all lives, whatever their nationality or world view. With the sanctity of life at the core of our values, we marched proudly as representatives of the value of life - making a strong statement in this nation where millions of lives were taken.

I want to especially recognize this year’s Rambam Award Recipients: Professor Emeritus Moussa Youdim, Dr. Tal Zaks, the Tannous Family, and the Azrieli Foundation. Each, in their own way, has helped to save lives, improve the quality of life, and help make our world a better place.

Finally, I am thankful for all of you, our friends from around the world, and would like to welcome our new Friends Organization based in Brazil. We are here this evening to also honor you, because with you standing by our side, the future vision for Rambam Health Care Campus is assured.

Happy 85th birthday Rambam family.
Sincerely,
Professor Michael Halberthal
Director General and CEO
Rambam Health Care Campus