A huge sum was raised in New York to complete the first medical center that will serve as an emergency and trauma center in Benjamin. The large fundraising event was attended by Ambassador-designate Mike Huckabee. Benjamin Council Head Yisrael Gantz thanked partners and friends who helped fulfill a dream of saving lives. The center is expected to open to the public in about two years.
More than 100,000 residents of Benjamin and the surrounding area are forced to travel far to various medical centers to receive treatment, even when it involves urgent and life-saving care. Benjamin residents have experienced too often situations when the lack of an emergency medical center led to needless deaths.
Council Head Gantz initiated the idea of establishing a large medical center, including an emergency medical center, that would serve the residents of Benjamin, save frequent trips to the city, and provide essential medical services to the residents. Now, a substantial donation effectively covered the construction of Phase I of the project.
Yisrael Ganz, 46, has spent six years at the helm of Israel’s largest regional municipality, the Benjamin Regional Council, and was recently elected chairman of the Yesha Council, a leading advocacy group for Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. In this politically sensitive and often volatile region, he oversees the daily lives of 250,000 Israeli residents and an equal number of Arabs who reside under the Palestinian Authority.
Over the weekend, the One Israel Foundation held a prestigious event in New York to mark its 30th anniversary, centered on a fundraising event in collaboration with the Benjamin Council in the presence of Ambassador-designate to Israel Mike Huckabee. By the end of the evening, NIS 35 million ($9.53 million) had been donated to the medical center project, with the largest amount donated by John and Nina Nanasi
The medical center will bear the name of the Nanasi family, who said at the event, “Our visit to Benjamin, Judea, and Samaria was a life-changing experience. This is the heart of the State of Israel, and we see great value in being partners in saving lives and providing medical care to the residents of the region.”
The center will include a wide range of medical services under one roof, including emergency medicine, emergency room services, advanced imaging, dialysis treatments, ophthalmology, orthopedics, specialized medicine, and a medical laboratory.
The center will also be fully operational with a dialysis center, imaging center (CT, MRI), gastroenterology center, dermatology, recovery rooms, women’s health center, pharmacy, lung institute, allergy clinic, orthopedics, X-ray, and health insurance offices.
