Hadassah is proud of the diversity of its staff and its patients, reflecting what peace would look like in the Middle East.
Prof. Rami Mosheiff, head of Orthopedic Trauma at Hadassah, recounts the story of a Palestinian boy who stepped on a landmine and suffered serious injuries to both his legs. Although Hadassah’s surgeons had to amputate his left leg, they were able to use tissue from the amputated leg to repair the badly torn up right one. Eager to get his son home, Prof. Mosheiff relates, the father took the boy out of the hospital before doctors could provide him with a prosthesis. Not long afterwards, former Israeli President Ezer Weizman underwent some surgery at Hadassah and King Hussein of Jordan came to visit him. When the monarch asked if there was anything he could do for Hadassah, Mosheiff says, “we asked him to find this boy.” King Hussein did so, and the young man was brought back to the hospital to be fitted with the artificial leg.
“I still believe, more than ever,” Prof. Mosheiff notes, “that medicine is a bridge to peace.”