By the end of September 2024, hospitals in northern Israel, from Nahariya to Haifa via Safed, had been ordered to transfer their activities to bunker-like premises, offering increased protection against attacks.
The underground service of the Galileo hospital on 3 December 2024. (Credit: Ronny Albert/Galilee Medical Center)
Even before directives for northern hospitals were issued by the Ministry of Health and the Northern IDF Command, the personnel of the Galileen hospital in Nahariya, less than 10 kilometres from the northern border, had already begun to move certain units to the fortified underground facilities of the establishment.
Throughout the war, Galileo Hospital, as well as Ziv Hospital in Safed, remained alerted, storing food and supplies in anticipation of possible isolation due to disruption of infrastructure and communications, massive losses and destruction.
During the months of the conflict with Hezbollah, the two northernmost hospitals and the Haifa Rambam Hospital treated 1,578 civilians and 3,391 soldiers.
« The last few months have been the toughest, » said Dr. Tsvi Sheleg, Deputy Director of the Galileo Hospital and Head of Emergency Preparedness. But after the signing of the temporary ceasefire, northern hospitals began to re-enter their usual premises.
« We’re getting used to the calm that has prevailed since the ceasefire, but it could start again, » Sheleg added. « We don’t know what’s going to happen, and we’re ready to go back underground at any moment. »
A concrete barrier remains in place at Galileo Hospital to protect against possible northern attacks on 22 December 2024. (Credit: Diana Better/Times of Israel)
Lessons from the Safed War
Professor Salman Zarka, director of the Ziv hospital in Safed, 11 kilometres from the Lebanese border, said that as soon as the cease-fire came into effect, the hospital staff had tried to resume their routine services, « by providing our northern population with all the services it needs, especially after a year of war ».
He added that staff « considers and takes into account the lessons learned from this war. »
« We are working with the Ministry of Health and the Internal Front Command to improve certain areas of the hospital that may be necessary in case of further conflict in our region, » said Zarka in a telephone interview with theTimes of Israel. « We will not return to the standards in force during this war. »
He also stressed that a plan to strengthen hospital safety should be in place in the early months of 2025. « I’m optimistic and I think we can fill some of the identified gaps, » he concluded.
In Haifa, parking is restored to its primary function.
In Haifa’s Bnei Zion Hospital in Hadar, high-risk patients, less mobile people and neonatal units, who had been transferred to a protected underground service during the last two months of the war, were reintegrated into their usual services in early December.
The hospital’s emergency department, however, remains in a secure and protected room, a spokesman said.
Dr. Yael Shachor-Meyouhas, Deputy Director of the Rambam Medical Centre, explained that as the war intensified, the Interior Front Command had asked the hospital to prepare for rockets every four minutes.
Despite the constant threat, « the hospital has tried to maintain its routine, perform surgical operations and provide outpatient services, » she added.
The hospital, which had built its underground facilities for war emergencies, housed patients there following the escalation of the war in late September. Today, with the ceasefire, the facilities are again used as parking.
« We are relieved that we didn’t have rockets every four minutes, » Shachor-Meyouhas explained. « But even now, we remain ready for any eventuality. »
Real heroes
During the war, conditions at the hospital in Galilee « were not easy, » said Kate Naumenko, the head nurse for orthopaedic surgery.
According to Naumenko, it will take time for staff to « recover a routine. » In other parts of the hospital, renovation work continues after being suspended for more than a year.
Working underground, without air or natural light, under conditions of promiscuity, has been trying « for patients, newborns and staff, » said Cohen, Chief Nurse of Galileo Hospital.
She pointed out that the war had been difficult « for both the country and individuals at the personal level ».
A number of hospital staff were among the
60,000 residents evacuated from northern cities on the border with Lebanon and relocated to other cities. Others, Cohen explained, had « husbands and sons on reserve or in the regular army ».
Ziv hospital staff in a protected room are caring for children injured during a Hizbullah rocket attack on Majdal Shams on 27 July 2024. (Credit: Ziv Hospital Spokesman’s Office)
« But despite everything, they made the effort to come to work every day, » she added. « They are true heroes. »
Nevertheless, the birth of babies — including two new pairs of twins — « is a renewal of life that gives us strength and hope, » said Cohen.
Hear « mazel tov« The most joyful service in the hospital, » she added.
What makes the hospital so unique, she explained, is also the diversity of its staff. « Baby children of all religions and denominations are born here, » she said.
« Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druzes and Circassians. We are one nation, one heart. »
Times of Israel
