In March 2019, I will be completing my 24-year tenure as the Director of the Association of Friends. It has been an honor to dedicate my post-army career to this esteemed medical center, which became my second home and like a beloved family to me. (My first career, as you probably know, was with the IDF.) I feel tremendous pride and fulfillment from my role in developing the Medical Center into what it is today.
Thanks to you, our devoted friends, we have succeeded in cultivating this hospital in the heart of Tel Aviv to become a premier center of excellence that serves as a best practice in its human fabric and focus on patient health and well-being, as well as in prolific research, campus infrastructure, frontline technologies and so many other domains.
You have been a vital partner in this success. For me personally, your commitment, enthusiasm and generosity have been an ongoing source of inspiration. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have done to help make the Medical Center a world-class institution.
Ms. Vered Roth, a talented development executive, will be taking my place, arriving toward the end of 2018. After a transition period, I will retire around my birthday, in March of 2019.
I am concluding my role; however, I will continue to help the Medical Center achieve its crucial mission, and I will be in touch and available to you, my dear friends, for anything you may need. We still have much more to accomplish together!
I wish you and your family a happy New Year, health and personal fulfillment.
Dear Friends,
As we embark on the next five-year chapter of Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, I am struck by our intense responsibility for the people we serve. As leaders, we determine whether patients get average care or optimal care, and to us, there is no choice, but to deliver the best. To do this, we need to reach beyond – way beyond our current capabilities, beyond our immediate resources and beyond our existing facilities.
Our vision moving forward introduces new medical services and enhances our trusted diagnostics and therapeutics by constructing new facilities, implementing progressive technologies and expanding our infrastructure. One look at our campus (made possible by you, our friends and donors) and you know that we go to great lengths to make our vision a reality.
Our roadmap has produced two essential plans, which are to be published shortly: a multi-disciplinary suite of progressive medical technologies and a portfolio of capital programs. The capital portfolio includes our current flagship projects: the Sylvan Adams Center for Emergency Medicine (save Nov. 18, 2018 for the cornerstone laying ceremony) and the planned, yet unnamed Health Science and Rehabilitation Tower. We are seeking a major donor to embrace this initiative.
The common thread among these investments is that each brings us closer to our goals of medical excellence, research leadership and compassionate, patient-centered care. These programs and technologies give us hope and resources to discover, understand, treat, heal, cure and prevent.
This plan is quite intensive, but the most challenging plan is often also the most rewarding. I hope that you will join me in looking back with satisfaction at what we have accomplished together. After three years at the helm of this institution, I am humbled by the outpouring of support we have received – both as an institution and as individual healthcare leaders. I cannot begin to place a value on the generous donations that we have received since I wrote to you during the spring holidays. You, as a friend and donor, have opened your heart and enabled us to obtain the resources to do good in this world. On behalf of the countless patients who have benefited and will benefit, thank you for your compassionate gift. I hope that we can continue to count on you to help us reach our true potential.
As you may know, over the past two months, I had a personal health “adventure,” experiencing for myself what it is like to be a patient and what it feels like to be treated on the cutting edge of medicine, in an uncertain situation that leaves you filled with doubt, fear and confusion. Thank G-d, everything is fine; I am healthy and not at risk.
This life-changing journey and your ongoing support have renewed my focus that I am here – and the entire staff of this great hospital is here for only one purpose: to prevent disease, alleviate pain, give hope to those who are ill, cure, save lives and rehabilitate the weak. I will always remember that the public health care we provide is for everyone, equally; everyone deserves the best care with a human touch and the most advanced treatments and technologies.
I would like to thank our chairman, Jonathan Kolber, for being there for the Medical Center, and for me, as a wise and noble leader. Thank you to all the members of our hardworking and committed board. Finally, but importantly, I am quite saddened by Ronit Blum’s upcoming retirement and thank her for innumerous contributions to our institution. Please join me in wishing her well. I am sure that Ronit’s successor, Vered Roth, will find a way to fill Ronit’s shoes and lead us to our next great achievements.
This New Year, I wish you meaningful moments with those you love, health and prosperity.
Prof. Ronni Gamzu
CEO, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center