Emergency Departments – Emergency Center

The Emergency Center at the Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh) is one of the largest in Israel. Each year, our emergency departments treat, on average, 145,000 patients and provide solutions to urgent medical problems of about 600,000 residents in our vicinity. The Emergency Center teams are committed to high excellence and quality standards in delivering the most up-to-date medical care while providing personal and human care. In a national survey that examined the level of satisfaction with the various services in emergency departments in Israel, the Emergency Center at the Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh) came second in Greater Israel, and first among the emergency departments in central Israel.

The Emergency Center provides primary care and is responsible for routing admitted patients between the various hospital departments. The center consists of 57 beds, divided between the internal medicine, surgical, orthopedic, pediatric, stabilization and transfer and mobile patients wings.

Additional specialized emergency rooms work alongside and closely collaborate with the emergency center: ophthalmology, EEG, women and maternity, pediatric, mobile patients and internal medicine.

The Emergency Center includes a trauma unit for intensive care of severe cases, and at any given moment, it is prepared to provide care in multi-casualty events.

The Emergency Center is equipped with all the advanced diagnostic technologies available, accommodating most of the tests within the department, without the need to transport patients between hospital labs. To streamline the examination procedures, the center includes an advanced imaging unit, which offers CT, ultrasound and X-ray scans and more.

Patients at the center are monitored and supported by complex systems, including invasive monitoring, respirators, dialysis machines, enthral and paraenthral nutrition, and artificial heart and liver machines.

The Team

The center’s multidisciplinary staff includes physicians and nurses who are experts in emergency medicine and skilled in treating a wide range of medical problems. Upon need, the center’s physicians are supported by the hospital’s experts and consultants. The treatment of patients is conducted in full cooperation with their families.

The Emergency Center’s team also includes a research team comprised of specialized physicians and nurses who conduct clinical studies at the center in collaboration with other departments at the Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh).

All you need to know when arriving at the Emergency Center of the Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh)

Main areas of activity:

During routine: Receiving patients to the Emergency Center and hospitalization, releasing patients from the Emergency Center, controlling emergency center charges up to invoicing, controlling hospitalization charges up to invoicing, controlling differential charges, managing patients' valuables, debt collection, issuing burial licenses and death certificates.

In an emergency: Operating a casualty registration and reception system during multi-casualty events, operating a human resources system during multi-casualty events.

Emergency Center Admission

  • Upon arrival at the emergency center, one must register at the admission office and present an ID. A medical referral or financial obligation (HMOs, insurance company, IDF) must be presented, or payment must be made at the end of treatment according to the Ministry of Health rates
  • Arranging the treatment payment opposite the HMO will be made directly by the hospital only in the following cases:
    • An insured patient who presented a medical referral and/or form 17 and was not hospitalized
    • An insured patient who was hospitalized without a medical referral and/or form 17
    • A work casualty who presents an employer confirmation (Form BL 250) for casualty during work
    • A car accident casualty – up to 48 hours from the accident
    • A student injured at school or on a school trip ("school accident") who presents a confirmation letter from the school
  • A patient who has reached the emergency center due to one of the conditions listed below is exempt from payment for the treatment at the emergency center:
    • Every new fracture
    • Acute dislocation of shoulder or joint
    • An injury requiring suture or alternative fusion measures
    • A foreign body in the airways
    • A foreign body in the eyes
    • Treatment of cancer
    • Treatment of hemophilia
    • Treatment of cystic fibrosis (F)
    • Women in labor
    • Anyone evacuated to a hospital by an ambulance, from the street or another public place due to a sudden event
    • Infants up to two months of age with sudden onset of high fever (above 38.5C)
    • Dialysis patients
    • Sexual assault
    • Domestic violence

Release from the Emergency Center:

  • Upon receiving the decision to be released from the emergency center, the patient must contact the admission office to complete the administrative and financial arrangements, with a medical summary detailing the course of treatment given and instructions for further treatment. Information on administrative arrangements in case of hospitalization following a visit to the emergency center is on the Hospitalization webpage under “admission and release”.
  • A patient whose payment was not arranged via the above options will be required to provide the emergency admission office with a financial commitment from the insurer or payment for the treatment within 120 days of the release.
  • Payment can be made by credit card (also by phone), cash, check or foreign currency.

Soldiers

  • Soldiers hospitalization – In the case of soldiers hospitalized in the departments, we are required to report at any time of the day to the RM 2 office at the center. The report includes clarifying details about the soldier's condition, their diagnosis and clarification of whether their family is aware of their whereabouts.
  • Soldiers release – the release of soldier patients is carried out as the release of civilian patients: Updating their hospitalization file with financial arrangements from the IDF and referring them to the continued treatment in RM 2.

At the Emergency Center Pediatric Emergency Room, primary care and initial stabilization are given to patients.

Helmsley Women's Emergency Room

The Women's Emergency Room, also known as the Gynecological Emergency Room, operates within the Women's and Maternity Division. In this emergency room, we provide answers to gynecological problems 24 hours a day. The women’s emergency room addresses urgent cases and pregnant women until the 22nd week, while women over the 22nd week are directed to the obstetrics emergency room for diagnosis and treatment.

Helmsley Maternity Emergency Room

The Helmsley Maternity Emergency Room is one of the most active departments of the hospital. This department is the highlight of the Maternity Division, which is one of the largest in the country and encompasses extensive activities. At the maternity emergency room, we receive women from the 23rd week of pregnancy, women who come to give birth and women with medical problems. The team takes care of thousands of women each year with dedication and efficiency.