Progress has been made in enhancing planning for the new hospital to be built in Beersheba. Globes has learned that representatives of the Sheba Medical Center, the Meuhedet and Leumit health funds, the Beersheba municipality, and the Ministry of Health studied four proposals from architecture firms that presented building alternatives for the hospital master plan that will be promoted through the planning pipeline. The winning firm is Rubinstein Ofer with Canadian architects Ty Farrow. The construction cost is estimated at approximately 3 billion shekels, not including planning (about 300 million shekels) and equipment (about 1 billion shekels).
The cost of planning and approval of the master plan by architect firms amounts to approximately NIS 3 million out of the total planning costs of NIS 300 million. According to the chosen plan, in the first phase, as approved by the recent government decision, a “general” hospital with an area of 180,000 square meters will be built, which will include an emergency room and 600 beds, in addition to diagnostic and emergency services departments, hospitalization departments, institutes and clinics. Clinics. 1,000 underground parking spaces will also be built. The master plan and allocated area of 400 dunams (100 acres) allows for expansion to 2,000 beds. In 2025, tenders worth hundreds of millions of shekels will be issued to enhance planning and construction.
At least six years until the emergency room opens
“The plan ensures flexibility and infrastructure for future expansion of the first phase,” Sheba Medical Center architect Tal Einhorn told Globes. Regarding timelines, she says: “We are committed to opening the emergency room, which is the most complex in terms of infrastructure and construction, in 2031. There may be departments or clinics that will be opened a little earlier than that. In other words, we have six years to plan, issue tenders and also build.” Same, which will take 3.5 years.”
In May 2024, the final decision to proceed with the construction of the hospital in Beersheba was approved, which included amending previous government decisions from 2014 and 2022. In other words, this is a process that has lasted about a decade. In 2014, when it was decided to build the new hospital, it was decided that it would be called “Perez Hospital” and that it would be located near Sarah Interchange, which connects Interstate 25 and Interstate 40. It was also decided that it would have 1,900 beds – more than any other hospital in the country. country at the moment (Ichilov and Sheba, for example, have about 1,500 beds). The original target date for launching the hospital was 2025.
“The establishment of the Negev Health City is much more than just a hospital – it is a vision that will change the face of the entire region,” said Professor Yitzhak Kress, Director General of the Sheba Medical Center. “The Negev Health City, whose budget is about NIS 300 million, has been allocated for the planning phase, and it will not be limited to “Not only will it provide the most advanced medicine and reduce health disparities, it will also attract the best minds and talent in the field of medicine. The plan is another important step in realizing the Zionist vision in the Negev.”
Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on December 11, 2024
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