Hillel Yaffe is on China’s Map

From the steppes of the Mongolian border to the surroundings of the capital city of Beijing – the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center continues to establish scientific and medical connections at full speed. During the month of August 2012 a second delegation set out on behalf of the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center for an official visit to sister hospitals in China – one of them located in the city of Shihezi in the province of Xinjiang, located in the northwest region of China near the border with Mongolia, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan; and another in the city of Taiyuan in the province of Shanxi, located south and west of the capital city of Beijing.

“This is a hospital whose high ranking directors and team visited us this January,” explains Professor Meir Oren, the director of the medical center who headed the delegation. “After visiting here they invited us to visit them in order to sign a pact between sister hospitals, and also to examine the possibility of cooperation in the areas of research, nursing and medicine. This is a golden opportunity for us – from a clinical aspect as well as in terms of knowledge exchange. In addition, it is clear to us that there is an Israeli-political issue here as well – to forge ties with a superpower like China.”  

In addition to Professor Meir Oren, among the delegates were also Professor Ehud Sternberg, the department head of Surgery A, Professor Avi Shotan, the cardiology director, Dr. Meirav Ben Natan, the nursing school director, Mr. Rafi Koren, deputy administrative manager, and Dr. Morris Topaz, head of the hospital’s plastic surgery unit, who initiated contact with these hospitals in earlier visits. 

 During the meetings the delegates visited hospitals, took part in meetings in order to coordinate cooperation, and also took part in impressive ceremonies for the signing of agreements of sister hospitals – this all took place in the presence of large numbers of people from the press, high ranking officials of the Chinese government and high ranking officials from the Israeli embassy in China, the deputy ambassador, Mrs. Dana Benvenisti, and the cultural affairs director, Mr. Zvika Ziv. In addition, the delegates enjoyed the opportunity to be hosted as “guests of the emperor,” which included traditional meals and visits to different sites in the provinces they were in, to which foreigners usually have no access, such as the Mongolian border and the metropolitan area of Turpan, the second lowest point of dry land on Earth, and more.

 The two week visit culminated with an update meeting by Professor Meir Oren and Dr. Morris Topaz with the Chinese ambassador to be, Mr. Matan Vilnai, who acknowledged the creation of the many medical-scientific cooperative efforts, which the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center formed in China. Mr. Vilnai added that he would be glad to join the next meeting in the city of Deyang in the Sechuan province, which is supposed to take place in October 2012.