Netanyahu lays cornerstone for new Safra Children's Hospital at Sheba

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prof. Yitshak Kreiss, director general of Sheba Medical Center, laid the cornerstone for the new Edmond and Lily Safra Children's on Monday.

Sheba said that the expanded new hospital, which will be built adjacent to the existing facility, will be one of the most technologically advanced children's hospitals in the world. In addition to new medical technologies that will be integrated into the treatment regimen, Sheba said that the hospital will highlight unique early genetic testing, detection and treatment of rare diseases.

In addition to treating tens of thousands of children from within Israel, the Safra Children's Hospital also tends to the needs of hundreds of seriously ill children from the West Bank and Gaza Strip on an annual basis, a substantial number of whom suffer from rare genetic diseases.

"The building of the new Safra Children's Hospital is a huge accomplishment and is a big mitzvah to help these youngsters. I'm sure you will do this with a great sense of pride and will be successful. I put a lot of faith in you to heal the children of Israel," said Netanyahu.

"The new futuristic Safra Children's Hospital will feature so many new and unique divisions, unlike anything you have ever seen, from a new Children's Burn Unit and an Eating Disorders Division, as well as a division dedicated to special treatments for youngsters with genetic diseases," added Kreiss. "More importantly, we are a hospital of peace and a beacon of hope not just for the children of Israel but also for the children of the region, including youngsters from the Palestinian Authority, the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, whom we are already treating. This is the DNA of Sheba."