About the project
The Sheikh Jarrach Medical Center is likely the most important facility created by the Jerusalem Foundation in east Jerusalem.The center, which is operated by the Kupat Holim Clalit Health Fund, is an out-patient hospital that provides primary, specialized and preventative care. The center was designed by architect D.A. Brutzkus in 1982 with stacked rectangular masses, small window openings and pointed arch entrances to blend with the local building style. Facilities including ear, nose and throat and gynecology departments, family and dental clinics, a children’s day hospital, the Audre Rapoport Eye Care Clinic and a pharmacy, were added over nearly a decade, until the center officially was completed in 1991. Since then, the center has continued to grow and the Jerusalem Foundation has supported many improvement projects, including: addition of an operating theater in 1995, renovations to the day surgery clinic that serves approximately 4,500 patients per year in 1997; renovations to the pharmacy in 1998; creation of pediatric center in 1999, and establishment of a women’s health center in 2001, with funds raised at a gala event in Rome. The Foundation also has supported preventative health and educational programs at the center, often operated in cooperation with the Beit David Cultural & Community Center. Programs have included a health counseling program for mothers that addressed issues of stress, nutrition and the mother-child relationship, and an early detection colon cancer project.
