Preparing for war with Iran… Equipping underground hospitals in Tel Aviv
Against the backdrop of escalating tensions with Iran, the Israeli Ministry of Health has built a new underground hospital in the heart of Tel Aviv, as part of efforts to enhance readiness for war and emergency scenarios.
Preparations were carried out at the Assuta Ramat HaHayal hospital, including an underground parking lot to operate during emergency hours as a fortified hospital, which includes infrastructures for electricity, medical gases, and others.
The facility, which is owned by the private hospital, is expected to be part of the National Emergency Ambulance System, to serve other hospitals in the central region that lack adequate immunizations.
The hospital has 18 fortified operating rooms, laboratory and imaging services that can be used by the hospital underground. It has a capacity of about 200 patients.
The State Comptroller’s report on hospital immunization, published a month ago, revealed a significant shortage of immunized hospital beds, noting that more than half (56%) of hospital beds in Israeli hospitals are unvaccinated, in addition to 41% of operating rooms in public hospitals, half of the catheterization rooms, and a third of dialysis stations.
The report recommended that private hospitals be integrated into the national emergency system, with 253 fortified hospital beds, operating rooms and imaging equipment, but the Ministry of Health hasn’t yet organized a model for such integration.
Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar-Siman Tov said: “We’re increasing readiness without raising the level of alert… We didn’t empty the parking lots or go underground… Yes, we’ve improved the ability to make transitions smoother and faster if we need to do them… The conditions of the underground hospitalization are not ideal, so we won’t be going underground for many weeks, but we want to be ready”.
Bar Siman Tov revealed that 3,600 immunized hospital beds have been added to the system at a cost of 700 million shekels since the outbreak of the war, with an ambitious goal of reaching 70% of the vaccinated beds within three years.
For her part, Dr. Shani Brosh, head of the medical department in Assuta, stressed that during the last round of fighting with Iran, the hospital proved its ability to be flexible and responsive, noting that the initiative to establish this facility came in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, which funded the infrastructure works.
