In her piece for the Atlanta Jewish Times, Dr. Rachel Schonberger, Hadassah National Vice President and a physician treating Atlanta's underserved populations, compares the level of medical care that has been available at Hadassah’s hospitals in Israel since their founding to what’s available to underserved populations in Atlanta. “Our multi-ethnic staff offers comprehensive care for a multi-ethnic, multilingual population just like Hadassah’s hospitals,” she says. She talks about the differences in health insurance between the residents of Atlanta and those in Israel, noting that the hospitals in both places are underfunded. But Hadassah’s hospitals are very fortunate because they receive funding from private donations and the Israeli government, support that has led most recently to an upgraded labor-and-delivery facility and a renovated cardiac catheterization unit. A generous naming gift from the Gandel family in Australia is making it possible to build a new, state-of-the-art rehabilitation center. She quotes former Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat: “The future of Jerusalem is the future of Hadassah. Jerusalem is the heart of Israel and Hadassah is the heart of Jerusalem.”
Dr. Rachel Schonbergeris a member of the HADASSAH WRITERS’ CIRCLE, a program of Hadassah’s Media & Public Relations Office that offers Hadassah’s volunteer leaders, members and professional staff a way to share their thoughts and feelings about Hadassah’s work in the United States and Israel.