“Sirens have become the background music of our lives,” Galit Kaufman told the audience at the Jerusalem Post Women Leaders Summit 2026. As CEO of Samson Assuta Ashdod Public University Hospital, Kaufman described a system that does not pause in the face of crisis but adapts within it. “In the heart of the South fear is met with fortitude and chaos is met with calm,” she said. "Assuta Ashdod is more than a hospital. It is a fortress.”
The description is not rhetorical. The facility, she noted, is “the only rocket-proof hospital in Israel.” Even under fire, “babies are being born in fully protected delivery rooms where mothers feel 100% safe,” while underground emergency units ensure continuity of care. “Life doesn’t stop,” she said. “It continues to heal.” For Kaufman, resilience is as much human as structural. Staff are supported with protected schools for their children, “so those who save lives don’t have to worry about their own families.”
The result, she said, is unwavering commitment: “We ensure that the light of medicine never flickers, no matter how loud the roar of the storm.” Quoting Golda Meir, Kaufman framed leadership as service: “We cannot be all things to all people, but we can be everything to someone at the moment they need us most.” Leadership, she added, “is not measured by titles, but by impact, courage and the willingness to serve.”
Since the October 7 attacks, that ethos has been tested. The hospital became “the front line of life itself,” treating waves of wounded. “Our teams worked nonstop, providing not only urgent care, but dignity, compassion and hope,” she said, noting a 96% success rate. Kaufman also positioned Assuta Ashdod as a disruptor in Israeli healthcare. “Your zip code should not determine the quality of your care,” she said, calling the hospital a “lifeline” for the south. Kaufman ended on a broader note: “Your voice matters your leadership will shape the future,” she said, urging the next generation to step forward “with courage, and faith in the power of women’s leadership.”