Excerpt from the speech given by Anne Rothenberg, recipient of the “Builders of Jerusalem” award at the Gala celebrating 40 years of Hadassah-Israel:
…While I hope you have fun at your Hadassah Chapter gatherings, making friends and having a good time, Hadassah is primarily a fundraising organization that supports the most amazing hospital in the Middle East, if not in the world.
Through our efforts, we help Hadassah’s hospitals perform miracles every day. At Hadassah-Israel, we raise money for specific, unique projects. For example, we financed the acquisition of a computerized record-keeping system for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. This program enabled the staff to throw out their unsanitary clip boards, and keep records of their tiny patients electronically.
Together, Hadassah-Israel’s chapters raised funds for 20 new electric beds in the Rehab Unit at Hadassah Mt. Scopus, which previously only had six.
During Covid, Hadassah-Israel provided equipment to remotely monitor the vital signs of Covid patients, thereby safeguarding the nursing staff.
When Hadassah Hospital sent medical teams to Poland to set up a clinic for Ukrainian refugees, we held a supportive emergency campaign helping to finance medical supplies, equipment and personnel.
In our most recent project, we have already raised over 400,000 shekels for a cutting-edge research project for the early detection and pre-emptive treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Clearly, Hadassah-Israel makes a difference and has a significant impact on Israeli health care.
Henrietta Szold, the founder of Hadassah, is remembered as saying, “Dare to dream…and when you dream, dream big.” I have a big dream: that in our lifetime, our amazing doctors at our amazing hospitals, will find cures for many of the horrific diseases that plague our society – from cancers to dementia to Parkinson’s Disease − and that Hadassah-Israel will continue to stand by their sides to help in every way that we can.