Israeli field hospital ends Ukraine operations after six weeks

The Israeli field hospital Kohav Meir (Shining Star) has finished its operations and all volunteers returned to Israel on Friday morning after spending six weeks in Ukraine, where they treated more than 6,000 patients.

The humanitarian aid project, led by the Foreign and Health ministries, Sheba Medical Center and other Israeli hospitals and HMOs, and supported by the Shusterman Fund, as well as the Joint Distribution Committee.

Israel will continue granting Ukraine humanitarian assistance, a Health Ministry statement noted.

The hospital opened on March 22 and is named after former prime minister Golda Meir, who was born in Ukraine and founded the Foreign Ministry’s Agency for International Development, Cooperation and Aid program, which oversaw the mission.

Over 60 members of Sheba’s medical staff, even under the threat of Russian missiles, worked in the hospital and operated at the request of Kyiv itself, which asked that the hospital be constructed as part of Israel’s humanitarian efforts to help Ukraine.

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz at the Israeli field hospital built in Ukraine (credit: SHARON YANIV)

The hospital included a triage area; an ER ward; men’s, women’s and children’s wards; labor and delivery facilities, imaging and telehealth technologies, mental health services, a lab, a pharmacy and an outpatient clinic.

Shira Silkoff contributed to this report.