JERUSALEM (JTA) — Bikur Cholim Hospital in Jerusalem has been taken over by the Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
Bikur Cholim Hospital ended its operations as an independent venture this week after more than 140 years of operation. Its building will become a satellite of Shaare Zedek.
Some 150 staff members of Bikur Cholim, or about 30 percent of its staff, have been fired, and the rest have become Shaare Zedek employees, according to The Jerusalem Post. Many former employees will not receive their full pensions, however.
Russian-Israeli tycoon Arkadi Gaydamak rescued the hospital from bankruptcy in 2007. In 2010, Gaydamak stopped funding the hospital and returned to Russia. He still owns the building and said he would not charge rent for the next three years.
The hospital’s emergency room will be run as an urgent care center by the private TEREM network, according to the newspaper.
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