Kiryat Shmona Ambulatory Care Center

In peace and in war, Kiryat Shmona is Israel’s front line. A robust military presence often doubles Kiryat Shmona’s civilian population of 22,000. Since 2006, Kiryat Shmona has absorbed almost a dozen missile attacks. Located 40 minutes from the nearest hospital, the citizens of Kiryat Shmona must rely on locally provided health care. Many in the community live at or below the poverty line; it can take two hours by public transportation to receive advanced care.

Clalit has now transformed an outmoded clinic into an advanced ambulatory care facility – a day hospital without beds.  The newly renovated facility includes an outpatient cancer center, which works in concert with Emek Medical Center in Afula. Oncologists at Emek diagnose and determine treatment. The Kiryat Shmona clinic provides chemotherapy and biologics to a dozen patients each day. The ambulatory care facility also has two surgical suites; one dedicated to wound care, trauma and other infection-prone procedures. The surgical suites handle all procedures that do not require general anesthesia, including orthopedics, plastic surgery, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, obstetrics and gynecology.

The state-of-the-art upgrades at Kiryat Shmona ensure the well-being of Israel’s northernmost residents and the armed forces that defend this border.