At the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York, on June 16, Prof. Rafi Beyar, immediate former CEO of Rambam Health Care Campus, reported on the new developments at the sprawling hospital campus in Haifa. A vision was described taking the audience on a journey through cutting edge medicine and innovation, at the hospital’s Ruth Rapaport Children’s Hospital, the Josef Fishman Oncology Center, and the new Eyal Ofer Heart Hospital.

Rambam Health Care Campus, with over 5,000 employees, is not only the biggest employer in northern Israel, but is the top Level 1 trauma center for the north of the country as well. Its location between two strong academic institutions – the Technion and the University of Haifa – has placed it in a unique position of innovation and invention.

Prof. Beyar described several of the new technological developments and inventions in use at the hospital, including the first human embryonic stem cells, robotic and minimally invasive surgery, acute stroke therapy, focus ultrasound for tremors and Parkinson’s disease, and new oncology solutions. The centerpiece of Rambam’s current development focus is the Helmsley Health Discovery Tower, where, he says proudly, “medicine meets technology and humanity”.

He also highlighted one of the most advanced sections of the hospital — the Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency hospital. Conceived after the Second Lebanon War in 2006, when 60 rockets fell within a half-mile radius surrounding the hospital, the structure converts from a three-level underground 1,500-vehicle parking into a 2000-bed hospital within 72 hours.

Rambam Health Care Center is creating the future of medicine, not only for Israel’s north, but for the entire world.