The Government of Israel approved today the sending of a field hospital to Ukraine for treating refugees in the country’s west. The Shining Star (in Hebrew, Kochav Meir) humanitarian mission is intended to treat the many refugees coming to western Ukraine. The hospital is expected to be active for about a month.
The operation will be led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health, and will be operated by Sheba Medical Center, Clalit Health Fund’s Schneider Children’s Medical Center, and a delegation of medical & nursing personnel from across the healthcare system.
The cost of establishing and operating the hospital for the aforementioned period will be approximately 21 million NIS, which will be funded by the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health, with assistance from the Schusterman Family Foundation, which contributes to national and social projects in Israel, and The Joint.
The hospital will provide treatment to refugees of the war and will include an emergency room, a delivery room, and departments for treating men, women, & children. Imaging and laboratory capabilities will be set up, and remote technologies will be enabled for use with Sheba Medical Center in Israel.
The operation, Shining Star (Kochav Meir) is named for former Prime Minister Golda Meir z”l, who was born in Ukraine and established MASHAV, the State of Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation and a division of the MFA, and which is leading the project on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.