Female staffers mark Int'l Women’s Day at Kaplan

Although women’s representation in medical schools has reached 50 percent, hospital staff is still mostly men. But at Kaplan Medical Center’s emergency department in Rehovot, all the staffers from physicians and nurses to paramedical workers, nursing students and medical clowns were female on Wednesday.

The unusual scene was held to honor International Women’s Day, which will be marked on Friday.

The emergency room patients were surprised in the morning to see only women in white. The aim was to illustrate the empowerment of women in the medical field. Throughout the morning, patients of both sexes were presented with pink flowers, and staff members wore on their shirts not only a name tag but also their position, medical specialty, family status, how many children they have and their hobbies to make them seem less anonymous.

Dr. Yael Dina’i, head of the emergency room, said the idea resulted from the process of women’s empowerment in healthcare. The patients, she added, learned of information on the team’s lives that usually are hidden. Dina’i stated on her name tag that she likes to hike, while the department’s nursing director Dvora Luzon said she works out regularly.

Patient Zohar Katua, a resident of Ness Ziona, saw the unusual sights and smiled at the doctor and nurse who examined him. “One can’t manage without women,” he said.