An Israel First: Hybrid Operating Room for Pediatric Heart Surgery Opens at Wolfson Hospital

HOLON, Israel, July 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Azrieli Foundation has donated 10 million dollars for a first of its kind hybrid catheterization room in Israel that was recently opened in the Ida Cabakoff International Pediatric Cardiac Center for Save a Child's Heart at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon Israel. The donation is just one of the many donations that the Azrieli Foundation has given in recent years to the leading medical establishments in Israel intended to improve healthcare in Israel.

The hybrid operating room – the first of its kind in Israel – will enable medical teams to perform complex pediatric heart surgery and catheterization procedures under one roof. The hybrid environment allows all relevant medical specialists (i.e., a heart surgeon, cardiologist, catheterization specialist and imaging team) to come together for greater efficiency.

The new hybrid operating room on the Azrieli Foundation floor of the hospital will enable new procedures to be performed and will allow cardiology specialists to shorten open-heart surgery operating times and provide surgical backup for high-risk catheterization, without needing to move patients from one department to another. A "hybrid" environment brings together all the relevant medical specialists under one roof: the heart surgeon, cardiologist, catheterization specialist, and imaging team creating greater efficiency for all involved.

According to Dr. Sagi Assa, Head of the Interventional Pediatric Cardiology Unit at Wolfson Hospital, this new operating room offers a combination available in only a few hospitals in the world, and unique in Israel to Wolfson Hospital: "Every image of the child's heart captured by a CT scan, MRI or echocardiogram can be reproduced by the system in a 3D image, which creates accuracy of the heart's image to the millimeter, and enables complex valve implants etc., allowing us replace more surgeries with catheterizations, which are easier and safer procedures."

Dr. Assa further explains: "This innovative space significantly reduces the amount of radiation exposure for both the medical staff and the patient. The room has a special system which sends out alerts on the level of radiation in real time. In addition, the control room is built like a theater, with extra-large viewing windows that allow other professionals to watch and learn from the medical procedures in real time."

"We are very pleased to make this groundbreaking donation which will transform the way surgeries are performed at Wolfson in particular– and in Israel in general," says Danna Azrieli, Chair of the Azrieli Group and Co-chair of the Azrieli Foundation Israel. "We chose to give to Wolfson because of its extraordinary work with Save a Child's Heart and also because of the incredible importance the hospital has in on the lives of so many Israelis in the Gush Dan area."

"We have long provided extensive support to the healthcare field in Israel," notes Dr. Naomi Azrieli, Chair and CEO of the Azrieli Foundation. "Our intent is to help boost Israel's world-class healthcare system as it continues to provide outstanding medical care for all Israeli residents."

The Azrieli Foundation has been engaged for years in providing broad and significant support to the healthcare field in both Israel and Canada. Azrieli's generous contributions – of more than ILS 400 million – to medical institutions in Israel over the past decade has made a real difference, including the promotion of medical research and emergency grants during Operation Protective Edge and the Covid crisis. This significant support is an expression of the Foundation's recognition of the high standard of Israel's healthcare system, and its vision to continue strengthening the system in order to provide excellent medical care for all residents of Israel.

Media Contact:

David Litwack
301-785-0720
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SOURCE Save a Child's Heart