Infosheet
Building a healthy future for the children of Israel and Palestine
Hadassah Australia | Hadassah Australia Foundation
Hadassah Australia was established in 2002 after operating informally
for many years as an ‘outpost’ run by volunteers to raise funds and
awareness for Hadassah Hospital.
It joined the ranks of Hadassah International – a global network of
volunteer organisations in 28 countries - whose role is to enhance the
image of Israel through the work of Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem,
to provide support for Hadassah Hospital as an academic centre of
excellence for healing, teaching and research, and to serve as a bridge
to nations through medicine.
Today, Hadassah Australia has a national profile with its head office in
Melbourne staffed by professionals and supported by a strong
volunteer base. Through its innovative programs and the generosity
of Australian donors, it is one of the largest financial supporters of
Hadassah Hospital in the world on a per capita basis.
In addition to Project Rozana – its newest fundraising initiative – Hadassah Australia is a key initiator and/or supporter
of the following programs:
Jerusalem Crisis Intervention Center
Founded by Hadassah Australia in 2006, the JCIC provides vital support to the many psychologically challenged children
in Jerusalem. With an open-door policy, it provides immediate attention for children in distress, treating patients from
all races, religions, cultures and demographics. JCIC is a division of Hadassah Hospital’s Unit of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry.
http://www.hadassahaustralia.org/JCIC-Center.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfwUjkxPNWg
Goshen Project
An Australian-inspired paediatric community health program that will revolutionise the treatment of chronic illnesses
as well as developmental and behavioural problems of children in Israel. It follows the signing of a Memorandum of
Understanding between Hadassah and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, the leading Australian research
centre into children’s diseases.
http://www.hadassahaustralia.org/news/hadassah-collaborates-withmcri?A=SearchResult&SearchID=5497321&ObjectID=635406&ObjectType=35
Hadassah Hospital
Jerusalem
PO Box 2400 Caulfield Vic 3161 Australia | T: +61 3 9272-5600 | E: australia@hadassah.org
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
Rozana Abu Ghannam was taken to Hadassah’s PICU in a critical condition, a decision that almost certainly saved her
life. Hadassah’s PICU is the principle centre for medical care and post-surgical intensive care for critically ill babies and
children from the entire greater area of Jerusalem. Patients are also referred from other parts of Israel and other
countries as well, including those in the Arab world.
http://www.hadassahaustralia.org/PICU.html
http://www.hadassahinternational.org/news/article.asp?id=2002
The Healing and Environmental Garden
Together with the Jewish National Fund of Australia, Hadassah Australia has invested in the first healing and
environmental garden of its type in Israel. Spread over 1.5 acres of prime natural bushland, The Jack and Robert
Smorgon Families Foundation Healing and Environmental Garden is located at the hospital’s scenic Mt Scopus campus,
overlooking the Jerusalem hills. As with the healing garden at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital and other leading
children’s hospitals around the globe, it plays a vital role in the treatment of young people with chronic illness. It is
beautifully landscaped and features a boardwalk, maze, vegetable patch, flower arcade and play spaces. It is
specifically designed to include elements that enhance feelings of peace and tranquillity and encourage activity, while
promoting positive thoughts and stimulating the healing process.
http://www.hadassahaustralia.org/Healing-Garden.html
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nature-that-nurtures
AUSiMED
The independent not-for-profit Australia-Israel Medical Research Foundation began in 2004 after a visit to Hadassah
Hospital by then Victorian Premier, Steve Bracks AC, to study mass casualty trauma management, of which Hadassah is
a world leader. The Victorian Government agreed to fund bilateral collaboration between The Alfred Hospital, the
state’s designated mass casualty centre, and Hadassah. Following liaison between the two, recommended protocols
were implemented successfully during Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires in February 2009. Since its formal launch
later that year, AUSiMED has channelled more than $1 million into projects involving researchers in Australia and their
counterparts at a number of medical and scientific institutes in Israel. Among them is the use of embryonic stem cells
to treat MS. Mr Bracks is a Patron of AUSiMED together with Professor Suzanne Cory AC, former Victorian Governor,
Professor David de Kretser AC, Professor Richard Larkins AO, Professor David Cooper AO, former Ambassador James
Larsen and Professor Shlomo Mor-Yosef. Early this year, AUSiMED was given tax deductible status by the ATO as a full
Health Promotion Charity.
http://www.ausimed.org
http://www.jewishnews.net.au/tax-break-a-healthy-shot-in-the-arm/29412
www.hadassahaustralia.org