As chief support of the Hadassah Medical Center’s Jerusalem Crisis Intervention Center (JCIC), Hadassah Australia welcomed Dr. Esti Galili, JCIC Director and head of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Hadassah, to Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth for one-on-one and small-group meetings with donors and potential contributors.

Dr. Galili explains that Hadassah Australia’s support is particularly significant because outpatient services for mental health are not covered by the public insurance “basket” in Israel; the government only provides funding to the extent that it has the resources for it. To date, Hadassah Australia has contributed about two million dollars for mental health services at Hadassah, including the JCIC, the child and adolescent post-trauma treatment clinic, psychosocial support for children in the Pediatric AIDS Center, and professional staff development.

Support for the projects continues to expand, Hadassah Australia reports, as donors are impressed by Dr. Galili’s passion and the growth of mental health services at Hadassah–thanks to this partnership. The initiative of Hadassah Australia has also spearheaded collaborations in research and clinical exchange between Hadassah Medical Center and The Alfred Hospital and Monash University, both in Melbourne. One recent example is a joint project on the treatment of childhood trauma between Hadassah’s psychiatrists and a team from The Alfred, led by Professor of Psychiatry Jayashri Kulkarni.

For more information, contact Hadassah Australia at Australia@hadassah.org.