‘Most advanced’ children’s hospital opens at Rambam
Rappaport Children's Hospital replaces a small and crowded pediatric emergency department.
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHTHE RECEPTION AREA, with its sea theme, is shown at the new Rappaport Children’s Hospital on the Rambam Medical Center campus in Haifa.(photo credit: PIOTR FLITR)
What Rambam Medical Center calls “the most advanced and sophisticated children’s hospital in the country” opened Wednesday on its Haifa campus.Named for philanthropist Ruth Rappaport, the Rappaport Children’s Hospital includes private spaces for the patient to be with his family, a branch of Haifa’s Science Museum, and roomy classrooms.The first three stories, meant for urgent care of infants and children, are reinforced against missile attacks.The opening ceremony was attended by Health Minister Yael German, Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and, of course, Ruth Rappaport and her family.The first unit to be transferred to the new premises was the emergency department, which moved on Sunday.It replaces a small and crowded pediatric emergency department with a child-friendly, spacious facility and advanced equipment.The rest of the departments will be moved from the main hospital in the coming year.The Rappaport Children’s Hospital covers 81,000 square meters, almost three times that of the old Mayer Children’s Hospital, which had been functioning for decades on the Rambam campus. The emergency department is now the biggest in the North and covers 600 sq.m. – triple that in Mayer. There will be space for 70 premature babies instead of the current 25.The new Rappaport building will be nine stories tall.When completed, each story will be decorated according to a different theme – the emergency department is inspired by the sea – so that children and their families will easily be able to find their way around without confusion.An auditorium with space for 100 children and family members for watching movies, plays and other activities will also be built near a beautiful atrium.
