The Jerusalem Post - Guide to Charity & Nonprofits

Barzilai Medical Center Eye Department

The Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon is located in the southern part of Israel along the Mediterranean coast. It serves a population of 400,000 of the northwestern Negev, including three main cities (Ashdod, Ashkelon and Kiryat-Gat) and a large rural area. It also serves military forces along the Gaza strip. The Barzilai Medical Center is affiliated with the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Medical School.
The Eye Department's Program
The Eye Department at the Barzilai Medical Center is an ophthalmology center dedicated to preventing and restoring visual loss and caring for any type of eye disability. The Department is composed of an inhouse hospitalization facility, eye clinics and two surgical units. Our staff includes four senior ophthalmologists and six residents along with 14 nurses, two opticians and a specialist for strabismus, who can treat and operate on almost any kind of eye disease with state-of-the-art knowledge and techniques. The Eye Department is also actually involved in teaching students from the medical school in Ben-Gurion University.
Due to the limitations of the facilities, the surgical units, the eye clinics and the inhouse patient services are located now in four different areas in the Medical Center. This creates great delays, inefficiencies and inconvenience for patients, their families and the staff.
The Problem
The number of patients examined in our clinics and operated on in our surgical facility has been growing continuously. This growth is largely due to immigration in Ashkelon from Russia to Ethiopia.
During the last decade, our facilities and staff have not kept pace with this growth. In addition, Russian patients, most of them recent elderly immigrants to Israel, add an even greater load to our system because the treatment of eye problems which they had received before coming to Israel was very poor. This causes eye diseases that are more complicated.
For these reasons surgical facilities have become overloaded. Currently the wait for cataract surgery can be as long as four months.
The Solution
We believe the Barzilai Medical Center can improve care by enlarging its eye care facilities and locating both surgical and preventive care under one roof in a state-of-the-art Eye Department. A new building has been designed adjoining the existing medical center, which will house the new Eye Department including:

15 beds of inhouse patient service

8 bed surgical unit - ambulatory care center

2 operating rooms

An eye clinic including:

6 examination rooms for adult patients
4 examination rooms for pediatric patients
2 laser units
a visual field examination room
a photography unit
an operating room for minor procedures
The new Eye Department will enable the ophthalmology staff to double its capacity to treat patients and to increase its engagement in clinical research.
According to the World Science Report, scientific knowledge and capacity are prerequisites for development. In many countries, government investment is not enough to build or maintain a healthy, productive research community capable of contributing to national progress. Another challenge is the rapid pace of technological advances. This requires training more skilled people than national education systems are presently able to provide. With the help from outside funding sources, our hospital can help our region and society by providing new patient-oriented ophthalmology research. Barzilai can become a leading center for ophthalmology treatment and research in Israel. A state of the art research laboratory will make this possible. A planned ophthalmology research laboratory will be added to the proposed new eye building. A strong in-house program of ophthalmology research is important in may ways. By keeping up with global technological advancement, in-house research will help patient service, our existing ophthalmology residents program and would continue to provide our society more skilled personnel. To do this, we need and appreciate your donation. Any size donation is gladly accepted.

Barzilai Medical Center Eye Department

	The Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon is located in the southern part of Israel along the Mediterranean coast. It serves a population of 400,000 of the northwestern Negev, including three main cities (Ashdod, Ashkelon and Kiryat-Gat) and a large rural area. It also serves military forces along the Gaza strip. The Barzilai Medical Center is affiliated with the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Medical School. The Eye Department's Program The Eye Department at the Barzilai Medical Center is an ophthalmology center dedicated to preventing and restoring visual loss and caring for any type of eye disability. The Department is composed of an inhouse hospitalization facility, eye clinics and two surgical units. Our staff includes four senior ophthalmologists and six residents along with 14 nurses, two opticians and a specialist for strabismus, who can treat and operate on almost any kind of eye disease with state-of-the-art knowledge and techniques. The Eye Department is also actually involved in teaching students from the medical school in Ben-Gurion University. Due to the limitations of the facilities, the surgical units, the eye clinics and the inhouse patient services are located now in four different areas in the Medical Center. This creates great delays, inefficiencies and inconvenience for patients, their families and the staff. The Problem The number of patients examined in our clinics and operated on in our surgical facility has been growing continuously. This growth is largely due to immigration in Ashkelon from Russia to Ethiopia. During the last decade, our facilities and staff have not kept pace with this growth. In addition, Russian patients, most of them recent elderly immigrants to Israel, add an even greater load to our system because the treatment of eye problems which they had received before coming to Israel was very poor. This causes eye diseases that are more complicated. For these reasons surgical facilities have become overloaded. Currently the wait for cataract surgery can be as long as four months. The Solution We believe the Barzilai Medical Center can improve care by enlarging its eye care facilities and locating both surgical and preventive care under one roof in a state-of-the-art Eye Department. A new building has been designed adjoining the existing medical center, which will house the new Eye Department including: 15 beds of inhouse patient service 8 bed surgical unit - ambulatory care center 2 operating rooms An eye clinic including: 6 examination rooms for adult patients 4 examination rooms for pediatric patients 2 laser units a visual field examination room a photography unit an operating room for minor procedures The new Eye Department will enable the ophthalmology staff to double its capacity to treat patients and to increase its engagement in clinical research. According to the World Science Report, scientific knowledge and capacity are prerequisites for development. In many countries, government investment is not enough to build or maintain a healthy, productive research community capable of contributing to national progress. Another challenge is the rapid pace of technological advances. This requires training more skilled people than national education systems are presently able to provide. With the help from outside funding sources, our hospital can help our region and society by providing new patient-oriented ophthalmology research. Barzilai can become a leading center for ophthalmology treatment and research in Israel. A state of the art research laboratory will make this possible. A planned ophthalmology research laboratory will be added to the proposed new eye building. A strong in-house program of ophthalmology research is important in may ways. By keeping up with global technological advancement, in-house research will help patient service, our existing ophthalmology residents program and would continue to provide our society more skilled personnel. To do this, we need and appreciate your donation. Any size donation is gladly accepted.