A check for $250,000-the first advance payment on a pledge of $1,000,000 toward the construction of a Histadrut hospital in Beersheba–was presented here today by David Dubinsky, president of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, to Dr. Dov Biegun, national secretary of the National Committee for Labor Israel. The ILGWU pledge is the largest single gift of its kind ever made by a trade union.
At the same time, Mr. Dubinsky announced receipt of a cable from Kupat Holim–the Histadrut’s health insurance program–announcing that ground breaking for the new $2,000,000 Beersheba hospital began today. He explained that today’s check was the first of four to be presented annually by ILGWU to Histadrut, as an advance on the collection of funds from the union’s locals.
Dr. Beigun said that the new 200-bed hospital will triple the number of beds available to Negev residents. The population of the Negev is now 70,000 and the number of beds currently available is only one per one thousand of population, as compared with 3.3 beds per thousand for the nation as a whole. He stressed that the new facilities will be open to all residents of the area on a non-sectarian basis.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
