City Notes: Hillel Yaffe named most green medical center

This week, police discovered Marijuana plants in Sderot.

By COMPILEDTAMARA ZIEVE
Doctors perform surgery (generic) R 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Swoan Parker)
Doctors perform surgery (generic) R 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Swoan Parker)
NORTH Hadera’s Hillel Yaffe Medical Center received the Green Label certificate this week, becoming the first governmental hospital in the country to earn the title from the Standards Institution of Israel and the Environment Ministry. Since the 1990s, the medical center has been a pioneering hospital with its use of solar energy via the installation of solar panels on parts of its roofs. Since then, the center has engaged in other processes aimed at encouraging recycling and efficient energy use while protecting the public’s health.
“Compliance with the Green Label required various regular organizational activities, such as recycling materials such as paper, plastic, iron, saving energy and water, using environmentally friendly materials and handling waste correctly,” said Judith Eli, vice administrative manager of the medical center and head of the hospital’s Environmental Committee.
“Today we are making use of a solar heating system that provides about 30 percent of the water consumption in the hospital. We purchase energy-saving light bulbs and equipment with high energy-saving ratings; we operate systems to turn off air conditioners and lights; we recycle paper, plastic and electronic equipment (which is donated to the community),” she continued.
“Additionally, we have saved a significant amount of water consumption in gardening by using watersaving faucets, reducing water pressure, watering the garden only at night and installing artificial vegetation where possible.”
The energy-saving activities should also bring about economic savings in the future. Administrative director Dr. Amnon Ben-Moshe noted that “Through recognizing that the Earth’s resources are limited, we set ourselves goals that relate to, among other things, saving resources, saving energy and reducing the use of products that are harmful to the environment among employees, visitors and the community.”
Thief robs gas station in Galilee A masked individual with a gun robbed a gas station at the entrance to Kibbutz Moran in the Lower Galilee last weekend. No one was injured. The thief escaped in a car after stealing NIS 700. Karmiel police launched an investigation into the incident.
CENTER Benefit concert raises warm clothes for the needy A benefit concert called Festival in a Sweater took place in Tel Aviv on Friday, featuring leading artists such as Hemi Rudner, Yael Deckelbaum and Sharon Moldavi. The aim of the event was to collect warm clothing for the homeless. Instead of buying a ticket for the show, audience members were asked to contribute a blanket or any item of warm clothing.
80-year-old pedestrian killed near Yanai Interchange An 80-year-old pedestrian was hit by a car and killed on Route 2 near the Yanai Interchange on Sunday. Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene.
MDA paramedic Rafi Sheva, who arrived first at the scene of the accident, said, “When I arrived at the scene, an 80-year-old man was lying at the side of the road unconscious, with no pulse, not breathing... He suffered a very serious injury, and we pronounced him dead. Witnesses said they saw him crossing the road and being hit by a car.”
Science park opens in Rishon Lezion A new park has opened in Rishon Lezion combining the laws of physics with environmental conservation, the Local website reported this week.
The science park, located in the Nahalat Yehuda recently established by the municipality, such as the Hebrew Park and the Music Park.
The Economic Society, headed by Nitzan Peleg, was responsible for establishing the park and recruited Yossi De Levie, inventor and manager at ABA Science Play Ltd., who created the facilities and incorporated 140 different scientific features.
According to De Levie, this is the first public facility in Israel that includes these elements, which he says intrigue park-goers and teach them about physics, the environment and the universe.
Next to every facility is a sign with instructions on how to operate the device and what can be learned from it.
SOUTH Mother, two children injured in car accident in Beersheba A mother and her two children were seriously injured on Sunday night in an accident between two vehicles on the Beersheba bypass road, near the cemetery. Magen David Adom medics were called to the scene and provided primary treatment to the casualties before taking the injured people to Soroka University Medical Center. The driver of the other car allegedly fled the scene on foot, and police were searching for him.
The 30-year-old mother and her children, aged two and four, suffered multiple injuries.
Shai Kadosh, an MDA paramedic who arrived first on the scene, said that upon arrival he saw that there had been a serious frontal collision between two private vehicles and that a two-year-old child was lying on the road outside one of the cars, and by his side was a four-year old girl. Kadosh said that the two children were dazed and suffered head and limb injuries. On the other side of the vehicle, he saw a woman who had sustained a head injury and was semi-conscious.
Sderot police seize giant marijuana lab Sderot police uncovered a giant lab of marijuana plants last week. This is the fourth lab of this kind that has been found by Southern District police in the past week. Police arrested a couple, aged 38, from Sderot, who were taken in for questioning.
Police said the raid was made possible by ongoing intelligence activity. Investigations uncovered a two-story house on the outskirts of the city, where five bedrooms had been converted into laboratories for growing professional drugs.
Police found some 400 marijuana plants, fertilizer, irrigation pipes, air conditioning and ventilation systems, heating lamps and professional lighting systems.
The Southern District police noted that they had recently identified an increasing occurrence of marijuana growing in private houses and thus diverted intelligence-gathering activity to this area. The Israel Police said it would continue its intelligence operations to expose and seize labs and suspects.
The commander of the Sderot station, Ch.-Supt.
Efi Shimon, praised the police for their work and said they had prevented the distribution of a dangerous drug throughout the South.