About the project
The British Order of St. John built St. John’s Ophthalmic Hospital, the first ophthalmic hospital in the Middle East, above the Hinnom Valley (in what is today the Mount Zion Hotel) in 1882. The building was abandoned during the War of Independence (1948), and the facility was temporarily relocated to the Old City. In 1960, it moved to a permanent location in Sheikh Jarrach. The hospital, today called the St. John Eye Hopital, helps some 60,000 patients each year, runs a nursing school and performs outreach work.The Jerusalem Foundation has periodically provided support for the purchase of equipment for the hospital.