As Qassams rain down on Sderot…don't forget our friends in Ashkelon
This morning the IAI team was fortunate to meet with Lea Malul, the Public Affairs Officer for the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.
For obvious reasons Jewish communal collective focus has been on the residents of Sderot who, since the disengagement from Gaza in the summer of 2005, have borne the brunt of the thousands of rockets aimed directly at their population center.
What few realize is that all of the victims of trauma go to Barzilai Medical Center only 6 miles from the Gaza border and now well within the range of the qassams which continue to land on and near homes, schools, synagogues and businesses.
Barzilai’s proximity to the Gaza border makes it the nearest referral center for all the district’s injured and traumatized and has thrust the 500 bed general governmental hospital, into the role of a Front Line Military Hospital. Barzilai, equipped with its own helicopter landing pad, is faced with the daunting task of serving the 500,000 inhabitants of the area, a substantial number of whom immigrated to Israel in the past 15 years from the former USSR and Ethiopia. Apart from Sderot and Ashkelon itself, the hospital serves populations from Ashdod, Kiryat-Gat, and Netivot as well as the local villages and Kibbutzim. As a result of the nearly 2000 Gazan missiles fired directly into the area, Barzilai has treated several thousand patients with acute and Post Traumatic Stress Disorders and Stress Diseases as well as over 500 physically injured. In addition to this new role as regional trauma center, the Barzilai Medical center also has its own School of Nursing and serves a teaching hospital affiliated with the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
Rockets have also landed almost on the hospital itself: one falling in a nearby park only a few thousand yards from the fence. This situation requires Barzilai to be continuously prepared and able to deliver top medical treatment to all injured soldiers and civilians. Due to the mounting attacks, and occupancy rates of over 150% (not to mention the rate of hospital beds per 1000 population being the lowest in Israel) it has become almost impossible for Barzilai to cope with and fund all the needed medical services.
Barzilai struggles daily to maintain its high quality services and capabilities under the rapidly growing demand.
In short, Barzilai is understaffed, undefended and underreported.
