A large, innovative and impressive protected dialysis institute, with 33 dialysis stations, opened at Herzog Medical Center in Givat Shaul in Jerusalem. The Institute will provide a solution for Herzog patients, and will also provide a response, in designated treatment halls, for ambulatory patients from the community, insured by all the HMOs. The institute enables the treatment of more than 200 dialysis patients during emergencies.
- Enables emergency treatment of more than 200 dialysis patients
- Versatilely built (varied, multi-use), so that large parts of it, in emergency scenarios, can be converted for the treatment of severely ill patients and ventilators
“We planned to open the dialysis center at the beginning of this year, but due to the war we delayed the construction and installation of the new center’s equipment,” says Dr.Yaakov Habib, director of Herzog Medical Center.
The new dialysis center is located in a new protected compound, in the central hospitalization tower of Herzog Medical Center. A.P.K. Health, which specializes in the establishment and management of dialysis centers for the community, for over thirty years, is a partner in Herzog’s management of the new medical center.
According to Yaakov Ben Kiki, CEO of A.P.K. Health: “In fact, this is a new and large dialysis system, which includes: a dialysis institute – with 33 machines for the treatment of hemo-dialysis, using the most advanced technology in the field, for patients with kidney failure, a pre-dialysis clinic – for the treatment of patients with deterioration in kidney function, in order to slow the progression of the disease and postpone the need to connect to the dialysis machine, as well as consultant medicine – for kidney patients by nephrologists, to the patients of all the HMOs.”
On the occasion of the opening, Herzog’s computer systems were upgraded in order to unite medical information received from the dialysis service with medical information about patients from the departments.
Varda Tochner, who is in charge of dialysis in Israel on behalf of the Ministry of Health, says: “We are pleased to open a new, protected and luxurious dialysis center at Herzog Hospital, with the largest number of protected beds in the Jerusalem area. The dialysis institute also provides (in addition to regular patients) a comprehensive solution within Herzog – for complex and nursing patients in the Jerusalem area and throughout the country who need dialysis.”
Much thought was invested in the architectural design of the institute, both in establishing a versatile dialysis institute, which allows in emergency scenarios to convert large parts of it for the treatment of seriously ill patients and ventilators, and in thinking, down to the smallest details, about the quality of life of dialysis patients. For example, the design allows natural light, despite the fact that the institute is protected, thanks to the ground structure on the slopes of the mountain on which the hospital tower stands. For example, with respect for patients’ privacy in mind, open spaces of 8 meters were planned between dialysis machines. In addition, an internal road was prepared from the southern entrance of Herzog Medical Center, which will enable patients and people with limited mobility to reach its entrance directly.
“Leumit Health Services also welcomes the opening of the new dialysis center in Herzog, which will provide a solution for its policyholders in the field of nephrology,” said Eli Gefen, director of the health fund’s national hospitalization and control system, at the festive event.
He said: “It is important to expand activity and treatment for ventilated patients requiring dialysis, who are currently hospitalized mainly in internal medicine departments in hospitals. The health plan is in close and continuous contact with Herzog Medical Center, both regarding patients in the ambulatory systems (in the fields of rehabilitation and mental health) and in the hospitalization system (in the fields of ventilation, complex nursing, general and geriatric rehabilitation, and in the field of mental health). In general, any expansion of medical services is welcome, certainly in areas of medicine where the infrastructure and hospitalization shortage is particularly acute.”
Nephrologist Prof. Linda Shavit is the medical director of the new dialysis system, alongside a team of specialists, a skilled nursing team, a dietitian consultant and a social worker.
Dr. Haviv, Herzog’s director, adds: “We are moving forward with the ambitious ‘master plan’ to turn Herzog, which is the first Hebrew hospital in Israel, dating back to the Ottoman period, into an innovative, large, groundbreaking and leading medical center of Israeli standards – in complex medical fields. Until now, we had trouble absorbing patients in our wards who need dialysis because of the need to travel several times a week to the other hospitals in Jerusalem – Shaare Zedek and Hadassah. The establishment of our dialysis service is an important event for the health system in the Jerusalem area, since we maintain some of the most medically complex departments there are (complex nursing, a very large geriatric rehabilitation center, as well as general rehabilitation, the world’s largest ventilator center and mental health center).”