Ziv, Barzilai to upgrade to Level 1 trauma centers, so they can treat seriously and critically ill patients

The Health Ministry has decided to recognize Ziv Medical Center in Safed and Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon as Level 1 trauma centers. As such, they will be able to handle patients arriving in serious and critical condition without transferring them to other hospitals.

However, before Ziv and Barzilai’s status changes they will need to upgrade their trauma-related staffing, equipment, infrastructure, patient capacity, and medical services. The upgrade could potentially be achieved during the current war through cooperation with existing Level 1 trauma centers.

Until now, Rambam Medical Center in Haifa has been the only Level 1 trauma center in the north and Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba has been the only one in the south. The other Level 1 trauma centers are in the country’s center at Sheba Medical Center, Ichilov Hospital and Beilinson Hospital in the greater Tel Aviv area, and at Shaare Zedek Medical Center and Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.

The decision to upgrade Ziv and Barzilai was based on the government’s realization that hospitals close to the borders — Ziv not far from Lebanon and Syria, and Barzilai near Gaza — must be able to handle life-threatening injuries.

“One of the things that became abundantly clear to us during the events of October 7 is that we had situations in which it took many hours to evacuate the injured to the large hospitals,” the Health Ministry’s Dr. Hagar Mizrachi was quoted as saying in the Hebrew media.

“To be able to take care of these patients, we understood that we need to strengthen the hospitals on the front lines and give them the tools to respond in emergency situations such as urgent head injuries and chest injuries,” she said.