The Hadassah Hospitals are recognized world-wide for their state-of-the-art medical care quality delivered by the best professional staff available. A side effect of their engagement and passion is the social impact that the Hadassah employee teams generate by helping, treating and healing patients. In the Hadassah Hospitals Israeli and Palestinian Doctors and Nurses work hand in hand. How could it be otherwise?
This is the reality of the country. Jewish, Christian and Muslim staff collaborate for the benefit of their patients. What is more, the patients also come from various nations, religions and ethnicities. The Hadassah Hospitals represent a modern state within a state: people from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds living and working together, “hitched up to a common cause”, as Dr. Merhav, a transplantation specialist, puts it.
An example is nurse Víctor Kukali from Bethlehem. In order for him to be able to work at the Hadassah Hospitals in Jerusalem, the Israeli Ministry of Health offers him a work permit once a year. He says that when he got to know Jewish Doctors who worked in his region, he got the idea to go work in Israel. He reports that the working conditions are much better in Jerusalem than in the territories.
It is not because the Hadassah Hospitals are some kind of miracle place where pure magic is happening. It is because the Hadassah Hospitals represent and reflect everyday life, as it is: people (admittedly the best educated in their field) working together, regardless of their origin. It is the result that counts. It is reality that counts. It is the action that counts, not (only) the words.
“That does not mean that there are no issues”, Dr. Merhav points out: Donations are quite beneficial especially for the Arab-Muslim society which does not have the infrastructure or education necessary for the treatment of their own people. They benefit from Israeli efforts and endeavors like the Hadassah Hospitals. They need to continue in order to support and maintain the system. Nevertheless is this a two-sided achievement because Bridges to Peace can be built only thanks to the collaboration of the Palestinians who are involved in the medical care and professional work that is made possible at the Hadassah Hospitals.
As Palestinian Dr. Khalaileh, who works in a team of liver transplantations surgeons with Dr. Merhav, puts it when speaking of his region: “I hope that in the future, we can build a transplantation system with the help of the Palestinian Authorities, because at the end of the day, we need to help the patients”.
NBC has produced a video about the two Doctors quoted above:
read also about Palestinian nurse Víctor Kukali: http://agenciaajn.com/noticia/victor-kukali-el-palestino-que-trabaja-desde-hace-18-anos-en-el-hospital-hadassah-de-israel-94605
