As one of Israel's top healthcare experts, Prof. Yoram Weiss, Director General of Hadassah Medical Organization, was a keynote presenter at the Australian-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) Health Innovation Summit held on July 9-10 in Sydney. The summit, which featured some of Israel's leading healthcare innovators, was hosted and moderated by NSW Health Secretary Susan Pearce and Chris Blake, Group CEO of St Vincent’s Health Australia.
AICC CEO Michelle Blum stated, "We were delighted that Prof Weiss was able to participate. The healthcare innovation program aimed to connect Australian healthcare leaders with globally renowned Israeli health leaders, covering best practices in the commercialisation of research and innovation, and exploring new horizons in virtual and remote healthcare."
L-R NSW Health Secretary Susan Pearce and Chris Blake, Group CEO of St Vincent’s Health Australia
In an excellent presentation, Prof. Weiss highlighted Hadassah's approach to innovation and translational research, from discovery to commercialisation. He noted that Hadassah physicians focus on high-level and high-capacity personalised research, crucial for treating rare diseases. Hadassah's motto, "Discover – Visualize – Learn – Cure," integrates joint research with the Hebrew University, the BioHouse startup centre, and Hadasit, Hadassah’s technology transfer and innovation company that brings medical technologies and products to market.
He also emphasised Hadassah's leadership in cancer treatment, noting it was the first hospital in the world to register radioactive drugs to treat tumours.
Prof. Weiss recounted Hadassah's frontline role during times of conflict, mentioning that in the initial days of the war, Hadassah received 49 wounded on October 7th and 122 wounded in the first week. Over 300 Hadassah staff members were called up for reserve duty, emergency housing was provided for 30 employees, and more than 1,000 units of blood were donated in the first weeks. At the same time he stressed his ongoing commitment to maintain the usual service levels as much as possible.
Prof. Weiss reported that as at June 30, 645 injured individuals had been treated across both campuses, including 62 in intensive care, 351 surgeries, 84 rehabilitation inpatients, and 115 rehabilitation outpatients. He also highlighted that Hadassah has two underground hospitals with 130 beds at Mount Scopus and 60 beds at Ein Kerem.
Two key areas of Hadassah's response to the war were underscored by Prof. Weiss: the identification of massacre victims using a mobile cone-beam CT, where Hebrew University Faculty of Dentistry staff worked in the field to identify bodies through dental records, and DNA profiling in collaboration with Hadassah's genetics lab.
Additionally, he noted that Hadassah's mental health professionals have been providing crucial support to soldiers and civilians across hospital departments, including rehabilitation, and supporting hospital staff facing the challenges of war. He added that Hadassah staff also supported over 600 evacuees from the South housed in hotels and kibbutzim around Jerusalem, noting dramatic increases in PTSD and other stress-related mental disorders, and the sustained rise in referrals to the Emergency Department and demand for inpatient and outpatient services. "Our goal is to provide the necessary care for a traumatized nation over many years to come," Prof. Weiss added, “and particularly to ensure a lifeline to recovery for the people of Israel through specialized acute and long-term rehabilitation services.”
Hadassah Australia proudly thanks the AICC and CEO Michelle Blum for their inspiring events and missions to Israel that foster innovation and build closer business relationships between Australia and Israel.
Back to Newsletter