This is life in Israel: Imagine a daily reality where life can be interrupted instantly by a siren's wail, leaving only seconds to find shelter. For most, the instruction is simple: run to a sheltered area. But for patients confined to intensive care or undergoing surgery, running is impossible. Recent conflicts highlight the urgent need for comprehensive fortification in medical institutions. Leading the charge is Laniado Hospital in Netanya.
Laniado's history is intertwined with human resilience. It was founded by Rabbi Yekutiel Yehuda Halberstam, the Klausenburger Rebbe. A Holocaust survivor who lost his wife and all 11 children in the camps, he made a vow: if he survived, he would build a hospital dedicated to sanctifying life, treating everyone regardless of religion, race, or gender. He established it on the principle that true healing requires both excellent medical care and deep human compassion—a spirit defining the hospital's daily operations.
Fifty years ago, Laniado opened its doors. Today, it serves over 500,000 residents in Netanya and the Sharon region. In recent years, the hospital has begun constructing new departments to be fully sheltered against missile threats.
However, the most critical department requiring fortification—which currently remains unprotected—is the Emergency Department (ER), handling approximately 100,000 visits annually. As the hospital's bustling heart, the ER is where patients undergo immediate life-saving treatments, hooked to monitors and awaiting urgent diagnoses. The intense workflow and unstable condition of these patients make it logistically and medically impossible to relocate them to a remote shelter when a siren sounds. The ER must be sheltered to ensure continuous, safe care, for its patients.
Now, Laniado is launching a historic $77 million mega-project: the construction of a fully sheltered Emergency Hospital. The plans have been approved by the City, and excavation and actual construction are underway
This innovative project will feature three underground floors serving as a parking garage during routine times, but rapidly transforming into fully sheltered hospitalization departments during emergencies. The ground floor will house a sheltered emergency hospital operating year-round. Protected against rockets and missiles, it will feature 74 treatment and hospitalization beds—a massive upgrade from the current 22 beds. The new facility will include triage and ambulatory departments, and acute care unit wings, a trauma center, an advanced radiology department with X-ray and CT scanners, and a doctors' wing. Directly above it, a sheltered surgical complex will feature 10 advanced operating rooms designed to function seamlessly during wartime.
This project marks a new chapter in the founder’s vision: a place that not only heals everyone but ensures that critical emergency medicine continues safely and uninterrupted, under all conditions.
Visit www.laniadofund.org to take a virtual tour of the facility.
By Yehuda Kluger
