Shamir Medical Center, formerly Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, is a

teaching hospital A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...

in Be'er Ya'akov, southeast of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

History

The Medical Center was named after

Asaph the Jew Asaph the Jew ( , ''Asaph HaYehudi''), also known as Asaph ben Berechiah and Asaph the Physician ( ''Asaph HaRofè'') is a figure mentioned in the ancient Jewish medical text the ''Sefer Refuot'' (lit. “Book of Medicines”). Thought by some to ...

, author of the

Oath of Asaph Sefer Refuot (, "The Book of Medicines"), also known as Sefer Asaph ( , , "The Book of Asaph" or "Asaf") , is the earliest-known medical book written in Hebrew language, Hebrew. Attributed or dedicated to Asaph the Jew, Asaph the Physician (also k ...

and an early medical text. The facility was established in 1918 as a

military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned or operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a m ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

in the closing days of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It was located adjacent to the sprawling British military base in

Tzrifin Tzrifin () is an area in Gush Dan (Dan Region) in central Israel, located on the eastern side of Rishon LeZion and including parts of Be'er Ya'akov. The area proper is defined as an 'area without jurisdiction' between the two cities. Nearly the ...

(Sarafand). After the creation of the State of Israel, it was converted to an Israeli hospital. The hospital was renamed after the former Israeli prime minister

Yitzhak Shamir Yitzhak Shamir (, ; born Yitzhak Yezernitsky; October 22, 1915 – June 30, 2012) was an Israeli politician and the seventh prime minister of Israel, serving two terms (1983–1984, 1986–1992). Before the establishment of the State of Israel, ...

in April 2017.

Services

It is one of Israel's largest hospitals, with over 800 beds. It serves over 370,000 people in Israel's Central District. As a teaching facility, the hospital is part of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine of

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

. On its grounds are the first and largest Israeli academic nursing school and the oldest Israeli school of

physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

References

{{Coord, 31, 57, 59.76, N, 34, 50, 23.21, E, type:landmark, display=title Hospitals established in 1918 Hospitals in Israel Medical education in Israel Teaching hospitals Buildings and structures in Central District (Israel) 1918 establishments in British-administered Palestine