Under Fire

| The Middle East |

Doctor Masad Barhoum, CEO of Nahariya Hospital For The

Western Galilee, gives an account to SIGNAL of what life was
like for medical providers in Northern Israel during the 2006
conflict and the challenges they still face today.

M
y current role is CEO of the
Nahariya Hospital For The Western
Galilee, a 700 bed facility which
is the regions largest employer with 2,200
staff. I was appointed in 2007. It made a
story in the press because I was the first
Israeli Arab to be appointed to such a
position but as I tell people, I am an Israeli,
an Arab and also a Christian. We all work
together here for the same purpose.
Prior to this appointment, I worked in
a similar role at a private hospital which
provides public services, the Holy Family
Hospital in Nazareth. This was where I
was working during the 2006 conflict.
We suffered one direct attack on the city,
which unfortunately led to the deaths of
two children. Between 50-60 people also
came to our Emergency Department, most
suffering from relatively minor injuries and
panic related shock. However, although we
were fortunate that we did not suffer more
direct attacks it was always evident that the
country was under attack. We could actually
see rockets flying over the city.
Nahariya, where I work now, was the most
targeted Israeli city by Hezbollah’s Qassam
rockets during the 2006 conflict - 800
rockets hit the greater Nahariya area in 33
days. The hospital here treated the largest
number of citizens and soldiers during the
conflict, approximately 1,872. This hospital
is very well equipped, with an underground
facility which enables all procedures to
be carried out, as normal, even during
sustained rocket attack.
Living during times of conflict, when the
area where you live is under attack, creates
high levels of stress. I saw that myself in the
2006 conflict in Nazareth. With the hospital
in Nahariya being the regions largest, we
had to refer many people to it, and from
what my current colleagues tell me, the
hospital worked under immense pressure
but the key was that it was prepared for it.

70 | | winter ‘10 |

‘‘Nahariya, where I work now, was the most
targeted Israeli city by Hezbollah’s Qassam
rockets during the 2006 conflict - 800 rockets
hit the greater Nahariya area in 22 days.
The hospital here treated the largest number
of citizens and soldiers during the conflict,
approximately 1,872.’’
| The Middle East |
Far left: Western Galilee Hospital,
Nahariya.
Far bottom left: The closest hospital to the
northern border.
Top left: Tunnels connect the underground
facilities.
Left: Underground hospitalisation.
Top right: Air Purification System.
Above: Mass casualty exercise with
Magen David Adom, IDF and police.
That is how life is in Israel, particularly in
regions which may be affected by conflict.
We go about our normal life like anyone else,
trying to stick to a routine but we do prepare
for the worst. The Government invests a lot
to ensure that hospitals and other medical
facilities are well equipped and prepared
to operate during times of conflict. We
frequently have drills to coordinate our
responses during times of emergency and
whatever we need to continue to provide
care for patients is given to us.
Despite all the drills and training and
| winter ‘10 | | 71
| The Middle East |
preparation, when rockets start exploding in
your city you are depending on the people
you work with to react in the right way. For
that, they need to feel secure in themselves
and also secure about the welfare of their
family. In Nazareth, for example, we allowed
all staff to bring their children to the hospital
with them; we had facilities set up to care
for them. This meant that this element
of stress was removed and indeed many
people who I worked with there said that
when they were in the hospital, with their
families, they felt safest.
Here in Nahariya, the success of the
underground facility during the fighting in
2006 has become an example for the future.
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Top left: Employee’s children.
Top right: Missile hit on the Nahariya hospital.
Left: Casualties on the way.
Above: Another image of a direct missile hit on the hospital.
The Government are using our hospital here as a blueprint for other
large Israeli hospitals to ensure that they have similar facilities and
can continue to operate as we did during any possible future conflict.
During the conflict there was a great unity of purpose amongst the
people I worked with, be they Arab, Jewish, Christian. Once you enter
our facility here, and it was the same in Nazareth in 2006, there are
only patients and caregivers, nothing else matter, that is all we are
here for.
As an employee of the Government I do not wish to comment on
the policy of our Government or anything like that, but the last two
years have seen minimal attacks on our region so obviously we
welcome that. As I said earlier, we live as normal but we are always
prepared. This area of Israel is beautiful and we are happy to live
here, in the future we hope that there will be sufficient security in
the region that we can all live together in peace.