| A Rosh Hashanah Message from Dr. Yehezkel Caine |
President.
Dear Friends,
As we enter the final preparations for the coming New Year, it is customary to look back on the year that was. For the hospital, this has been a very busy year.
On the one hand, the continuation of the Covid pandemic, although less virulent than at the beginning, is no less prevalent – especially in the older population. HERZOG, which has been at the forefront of Covid care in the greater Jerusalem area and for the country as a whole, has maintained the only dedicated department in the country to remain open throughout the “ups and downs” of the pandemic. We were recently able to close down the large department in the underground hospital and move the patients into a regular department dedicated to their care. This also includes those who have recovered from the acute phase but are still suffering from the ongoing effects, commonly known as “Long Covid”. This includes patients who need rehabilitation after weeks in bed, as well as a special group of patients who have remained dependent on ventilators and now are slowly being rehabilitated and weaned from the machines. Fortunately, we were able to open the new Rehabilitation Center which almost doubled the number of beds available, a product of the support of donors, such as you.
The underground hospital reverted to its main purpose – not a minute too soon, as the recent events along the Gaza strip dictated the move of patients from hospitals in the South to HERZOG, so as to remove them from danger. Thanks to the extra space that we have, we were able to admit these patients “overnight”.
An important part of any organization is planning for the future. True, in Israel that is fraught with uncertainty, given the special circumstances of the region. I believe that it was Niels Bohr, the famous physicist, who once said that “prediction is difficult – especially of the future!” and nowhere is it more difficult than Israel – the “Land of the Prophets”. Despite this, we have embarked on a major mission to prepare a master plan for the hospital, looking 30 years ahead. This includes planning for the full campus and rezoning our land so as to enable our successors to expand the hospital to cater to the needs of the second half of the 21st century. This, with the help of your own “home-grown” Canadian architect, Tye Farrow.
We have decided that a special focus of our efforts has to be towards the much-neglected field of mental health. As you may know, the hospital was the first hospital dedicated to mental health in the Middle East, which says a lot for the vision of the founding “mothers” back in the late 19th century. So, it is very fitting that, moving forward, we put a special focus on that much neglected and stigmatized field. We fully expect that we shall be revolutionizing the care of the patients with our long-term plans and the focus of our work, with your help, will be in that area, although not to the neglect of the many other fields, in which we hope to progress.
It is with help from supporters such as you who have gone out of your way to help the hospital develop. For this, we are very grateful. We do not take for granted the support that you give. It is not an exaggeration to state that without this help the hospital would not be the leading institution that it has become, for we receive no government support so ALL development – capital, programmatic and research – is a product of your support.
My deepest personal appreciation for your help, and thank you for all your good work. May the coming year be one of health, happiness, peace and prosperity!
Shanah Tovah from Herzog Hospital!
This Rosh Hashanah, let the sound of the Shofar be your clarion call to action.
Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, all donations received by 1st November, 2022, up to the amount of $30,000, will be DOUBLED! Please consider a donation in honour of the New Year, and your generosity will have DOUBLE the immediate and direct impact on the vital work being done at Herzog, and bring us closer to making these diseases treatable, or even curable, in the near future.