04/03/2026
On the outskirts of Tel Aviv, in Ramat Gan, stands a medical city that rarely sleeps.
The campus of Chaim Sheba Medical Center stretches across what was once a military base. Its history is woven into the story of a young nation finding its footing after 1948. What began near military barracks evolved into something far larger: a civilian medical center serving millions.
Today, ambulances pass through its gates carrying heart attack patients, newborns fighting for life, cancer patients in treatment, and soldiers wounded in conflict.
Inside its wards, the boundaries blur between civilian and military care. The hospital works alongside the Israel Defense Forces, particularly in trauma and rehabilitation. Yet its identity remains civilian, governed by the Israel Ministry of Health.
In one building, surgeons perform complex cardiac procedures. In another, children receive cancer treatment at the Safra Children’s Hospital. Across the campus, rehabilitation teams guide patients learning to walk again after spinal injuries.
It is also a place of research and experimentation. Through its academic partnership with Tel Aviv University, young doctors train, researchers test new technologies, and digital health innovators attempt to reshape modern medicine.
To some, Sheba represents medical excellence. To others, it symbolizes Israel’s infrastructure of emergency readiness. To many patients, it is simply the place where life was saved.
Hospitals often reflect the societies that build them. Sheba reflects a nation shaped by both civilian needs and security realities, balancing healthcare, research, and preparedness within one vast campus.
And every day, beyond politics and policy, it remains what it was built to be: a hospital where people come seeking healing. One of them being me seeking treatment for CTEPH.
