New Hadassah Unit to Strengthen Cooperation with Arab Doctors and Medical Facilities on the West Ban

The Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) here has established a liaison office with the Civil Administration of Judaea and Samaria to further strengthen cooperation with Arab doctors and medical facilities on the West Bank.

The office was established after talks between HMO Director-General Dr. Samuel Penchas and Dr. Ephraim Sneh, head of the Civilian Administration and also a physician, on the increasingly close ties between medical and administrative personnel of the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center at Ein Karem and the Hadassah University Hospital on Mount Scopus and their counterparts in hospitals and clinics serving the Arab population of the West Bank.

Sneh said that while medical services in Judaea and Samaria are adequate, patients requiring more complex diagnosis and treatment are referred to Hadassah facilities in increasing numbers. The new liaison office was created to speed registration and transfer of such patients and to provide another avenue of contact and cooperation among doctors and administrators in Jerusalem and on the West Bank.

Penchas noted that Hadassah doctors frequently visit clinics in Hebron, Ramallah, Beit Jallah and other West Bank settlements and that Hadassah specialists in surgery, pediatrics and hematology regularly serve as advisers on complicated cases at clinics in Judaea and Samaria. Arab physicians also visit Hadassah hospitals to observe treatment techniques and to keep current on latest advances in research and patient care.

A group of 30 administrators from hospitals in Judaea and Samaria recently visited the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center to discuss opportunities for closer cooperation between their institutions and the HMO. Further discussion, meetings and workshops on specific areas of medical care are planned for the future.