NIS 1 million of home rehab equipment stolen by Palestinians

Patients who hoped to be discharged and recover at home remain hospitalized.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Updated: NOVEMBER 25, 2015 05:18
Yad Sarah lends out medical equipment (photo credit: YAD SARAH, COURTESY)
Yad Sarah lends out medical equipment
(photo credit: YAD SARAH, COURTESY)
A Yad Sarah truck full of vital equipment from its Ashkelon and Beersheba branches for hospital patients to return home and recover under hospital- like conditions has been stolen, the voluntary organization announced on Tuesday.
The truck was stolen in Beersheba and was headed for the Palestinian Authority.
It ended up in Dahariya near Hebron.
A police complaint was filed by Yad Sarah, but it is not expected that the stolen property will be easily retrieved.
The equipment was purchased as part of its home-hospitalization project and included electrically operated hospital beds and sophisticated respiratory devices. All these were worth over NIS 1 million, excluding the truck itself owned by Yad Sarah, which was also very expensive.
The spokesman said dozens of patients who had been due to be discharged from hospital and to use the equipment at home now cannot be released and sent home. During the current wave of terrorism, said Yad Sarah, many patients want to go home and be with their family, but due to the lack of equipment, they cannot. The organization is trying to find the necessary home-hospital beds and other equipment in its other branches around the country.
Yad Sarah director-general Moshe Cohen said that because the truck was stolen, at the moment the patients cannot be discharged.
“We are looking for temporary solutions to supply missing equipment until we are able to purchase a new truck and equipment with donations,” he said. “The difficult situation of the patients stands before our eyes at all times.”