The Shaare Zedek Medical Center treated more than half a million patients – from Israel and overseas – in 2016.
The hospital continued its growth process, added new services and dedicated new departments. And the increase in demand for Shaare Zedek’s services is proof of the public’s faith and trust in our hospital and staff.
“2016 was a turning point for Shaare Zedek Medical Center,” says Director-General Prof. Yonatan Halevy. “Opening our Brain Facility completed our public service continuum, and positioned Shaare Zedek at the forefront of Israeli medicine. It’s turned us into a “super center,” housing the vast majority of contemporary medical specialties.”
The Emergency Medicine Department dealt with approximately 149,000 patients, many of them victims of the “Individuals’ Intifada” – the almost daily stabbings in Jerusalem and the surroundings areas at the start of the year. And new equipment in the ER, including an advanced ECMO machine (external life support), helped improve the medical team’s treatment abilities.
In 2016, 22,400 babies were born in Shaare Zedek and our Bikur Cholim branch – an average of 61 babies every day! We are the largest and most popular birth center in the country (12% of all births in Israel and about 60% of all births in the greater Jerusalem area.)
“The public continues to choose Shaare Zedek as its preferred hospital for giving birth,” notes Prof. Halevy. “The variety of mothers we care for indicates that we have managed to address all of their needs, and make every mother feel at home. We offer full rooming-in as well as professional day nurseries, natural birth, complex births, new delivery rooms and excellent ‘hotel’ services. And all this in addition to a highly experienced and professional medical team, and our devoted midwives. All this is the secret to our success!”



Significant growth was noted in all measured parameters:

• Our Stroke Unit, opened in March, has already proved its worth and treated no less than 835 cases! Brain catheterization and brain surgery are also routinely performed at the hospital.

• Approximately 85,000 patients were hospitalized during the year, in 1,000 beds.

• More than 32,000 operations and approximately 2,600 diagnostic and therapeutic cardiological catheterizations.

• In August, we inaugurated a Sports Medicine Center, offering services for sportsmen and women, health enthusiasts and the general public.

• We also established a new unit for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and various specialized clinics, including a Diabetic Foot clinic, an Eating Disorders clinic, and others.  

There has also been constant improvement in our hospital infrastructure. A comprehensive hospital master plan has been approved, slated to serve Jerusalem residents in the next century as well. We opened a new and welcoming entrance area, the Department of Vascular Surgery moved into its new and spacious home, as did the hospital’s Communications Center, and many of our clinics underwent more patient-friendly renovation.
Shaare Zedek continues to be one of the largest employers in the city, with approximately 4,000 employees – almost 1,000 doctors, 1,500 nurses and 1,500 paramedical staff, management and ancillary workers.
“I am proud of every single employee at the Medical Center, for upholding professionalism and unlimited dedication to our patients, even when the demand for our services is rising and reaching new heights,” says Prof. Halevy.