Hadassah’s global impact

Diane Schwartz, Presidents Council for Collier/Lee Chapter

Hadassah National President Carol Ann Schwartz shares, “In just the last decade, we have helped to save and improve lives in more than 35 countries. Also, if you

include countries from which students came to Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) to study in the international masters in public health program, the number reaches well over 100 countries.

Your support has a world-reaching impact on five of the world’s seven continents.”

While the Israel-Hamas war continues to rage on, your support helps Israelis and injured soldiers to receive rehabilitation and psychological care. Our new Rehabilitation Center was completed on an urgent turnaround after Oct. 7 due to great need. To help heal the minds of those affected with PTSD and horrific sexual violence, Hadassah also maintains the Bat Ami Center for the growing number of victims of sexual abuse.

Our hospital is among the leading medical centers of the world and has been cited by US News and World Report as a leader in cardiology, oncology and smart technology. Hadassah is known globally for its cutting-edge research and collaborates with 50+ research partners around the world that include major U.S. labs, hospitals, institutes and pharmaceutical companies in a variety of countries. Hadassah research has led the way on many medical and scientific matters.

Hadassah International spans many continents with groups in many countries: Israel, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Brazil. The volunteer men and women of Hadassah International believe that advancement and cooperation in medicine transcend politics, religion and national boundaries.

Hadassah trained medical personnel in South American hospitals during COVID on how to treat their patients and manage their hospital care and staff during the pandemic. Our Hadassah medical staff travel to the scene of crises around the world, including Ukraine where our doctors and nurses set up trauma services right over the border in Poland as evacuating Ukrainians left their country. Many orphaned Ukrainian children were taken to Hadassah’s Youth Aliyah Villages. They were still there on the dark day of Oct. 7, and they survived.

Hadassah medical staff teams travel to crises around the world dealing with tragedies such as earthquakes and tsunamis to provide assistance and share their knowledge of trauma medical care.

Hadassah has a history of sharing its knowledge and skills. In the 1940s, during World War II, Hadassah Hospital experts educated British Military officers in the Middle East about dysentery, malaria, typhoid, typhus and other tropical diseases.

During the same period, the Polish government awarded Hadassah the Golden Cross of Merit for developing an anti-typhus vaccine used by Polish troops and refugees.

In addition to Hadassah’s world-class research hospital, the organization has built and developed five schools for medical professionals in Israel, including schools of medicine, nursing, pharmacology and dentistry.

In addition to its healthcare work in Israel, Hadassah develops support programs in the U.S., such as women’s healthcare education, advancing the value of Zionism and fighting against antisemitism. Living our Jewish values of Tikkun Olam and Suddukah, Hadassah works to empower women and all are cornerstones of what we do in Hadassah.

Your support keeps Hadassah at the table on key decisions, such as its recent presentation at the congressional roundtable on gender-based violence against Israeli women and at the 68th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

With a 112-year history rich in caring and service, we believe that Hadassah is a bridge to peace for the world through health and medicine.