Shaare Zedek to add 18-story, 900-bed hospital tower to campus

With the number of residents in the Jerusalem area booming and the population aging, there will be a growing need for more hospital beds in the coming two decades.

Shaare Zedek Medical Center (SZMC) has just received permission from the Construction and Housing Ministry, the Jerusalem Municipality, and the Israel Lands Authority (ILA) to plan a new 18-story hospital tower that will be built on the parking lot adjacent to the 121-year-old hospital that since 1980 has been located opposite Mount Herzl.

Construction and Housing Minister Rabbi Yitzhak Goldknopf, ILA director-general Yanki Quint, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, and Shaare Zedek Prof. Ofer Marin agreed on the establishment of a team for the rapid planning of the new facility that will include a helipad and underground space for running a hospital in combat and emergencies.

It will be built in three stages, SZMC President Prof. Jonathan Halevy told The Jerusalem Post. Each floor is to cover 6,000 square meters. The first stage is to be completed in five to seven years; the second within eight to 10 years, and the total construction time should be 10 to 15 years.

“Shaare Zedek is the fastest-growing medical center in the last decade in Israel,” said Merin. “It has become one of the largest and most sought-after hospitals in the country, with leading centers of excellence in all medical specialties, and it is a leading trauma supercenter.”

Upon completion, the complex will have some 1,900 beds, compared to the present number nearly 1,000 beds. Funding is due to be provided by three main donors and the government.

It was agreed at the meeting that the project promotion team, which will include senior officials from all the involved bodies, would be established within a month to carry out a speedy planning procedure for the new facility.

World-class medical care 

The aim is to provide high-level medical care not only to Jerusalem residents, but also to Beit Shemesh, Givat Ze’ev, Betar Illit, Gush Etzion, the Binyamin region, and Modi’in.

Goldknopf said that “the number of residents in Israel’s capital has increased significantly, so we must also address the area’s medical needs. The war with Gaza taught us the importance of protected medical buildings and the need for a helipad that could allow the wounded to fly in a quick way that would save lives. We will continue to act for the benefit of the citizens of Israel and the residents of Jerusalem.”

Lion added “Jerusalem is in a tremendous wave of expansion and prosperity, and soon we will mark more than a million residents living in the city – a tenth of Israel’s population. We prepare for the future by adding places of employment, expanding the infrastructure, and of course expanding medical care for many of the city’s residents."

“Shaare Zedek is an old Jerusalem institution that stands at the forefront of world-class medical care. We intend to continue to develop all the infrastructure for the benefit of all the residents of Jerusalem, and to continue to develop the city and march forward.”

The two hospitals of the Hadassah Medical Organization, in Ein Kerem and on Mount Scopus, together currently have a total of some 1,400 beds.