The Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital
Rambam’s Second Line of Defense
After missiles from Lebanon landed on Haifa in 2006, Rambam’s leadership made a bold decision: never again would the safety of patients and staff be placed at risk from enemy fire. The result is the Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital, a 2,000-bed, fully equipped medical facility and the largest of its kind in the world.
“In the face of possible war, Rambam Health Care Campus will save many lives.”
– Shimon Peres z”l, Former Prime Minister and President of the State of Israel
Born of War
In 2006, the Second Lebanon War changed the rules of engagement. For the first time, civilian casualties outnumbered military ones, and for the first time, doctors at Rambam were forced to treat patients while under fire.
In 2014, Rambam inaugurated its answer: three underground floors that serve in peacetime as a parking garage and convert, in less than 72 hours, into a fully operational hospital with operating rooms, delivery rooms, an intensive care unit, a dialysis center, and a large decontamination center for treating patients exposed to non-conventional weaponry.
- 2,000 beds across three fortified underground floors, the largest facility of its kind in the world
- Converts from parking garage to working hospital in under 72 hours
- Equipped for both conventional and non-conventional attacks
- Activated in real wars: October 2023 and June 2025
Tested by War
This is no longer a hypothetical. In October 2023, days after war broke out, Israel’s Ministry of Health instructed Rambam to move its patients underground. Roughly 1,000 patients were transferred into the fortified hospital as the facility went operational.
During these years of war, the underground hospital has provided uninterrupted care to the people of northern Israel. Patients and staff of four northern hospitals without fortified facilities of their own moved into its protected halls, together with the staff’s own children. Rambam created a school for the children so that parents and children could stay together and feel safe.
In June 2025, as Iranian ballistic missiles struck the Haifa area, Rambam activated the underground hospital once again. While sirens sounded above, its teams performed surgeries and delivered babies, safely and without interruption.
Still Not at Full Capacity
Yet the hospital is still not equipped for its full capacity. Rambam remains in urgent need of hospital beds, equipment, and supplies, as well as fortified data and command centers that will ensure the underground hospital’s full functioning in any emergency.
In a region where hostilities can erupt at any moment, preparedness cannot pause. Every gift helps Rambam remain ready to carry out its life-saving mission under any circumstances.
A Founding Role in Preparedness
The Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital has proven what it can do. Helping it reach full readiness is one of the most direct ways to protect the people of northern Israel, in this war and the next. Naming and support opportunities are available across the facility, from equipment to entire units.
To learn more, request program proposals, or arrange a briefing with Rambam’s clinical and scientific leadership, please contact American Friends of Rambam at (212) 292-4499 or info@aforam.org.