Sheba Doctors at the Forefront in Haiti

Colonel Dr. Itzik Kryce, an internal medicine specialist who trained at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer and who holds a series of senior administrative duties at Sheba, headed Israel's 250-person medical rescue team in Haiti, sent to that country following the devastating January earthquake.

Dr. Kryce commanded the Israel Defense Forces emergency relief field hospital in Haiti. Five other Sheba medical personnel participated in the humanitarian mission too: exotic diseases expert Prof. Eli Schwartz; anesthesiologist Dr. George Kurakin; primary medicine expert Dr. Adar Marom; epidemiologist Dr. Kobi Peleg; and registered nurse Maya Golan. Other Sheba personnel, like Dr. Shiri Tenenboim, traveled to Haiti with Israeli NGOs such as ISRAAID.

In February, Dr. Itzhak Siev-Ner, chief of orthopedic rehabilitation (and chief orthopedic rehab surgeon) at Sheba, and Anat Crystal, the chief orthopedic physiotherapist, traveled to Haiti with two other Israeli medical personnel on a joint Sheba-Magen David Adom ten-day "assessment mission." The Sheba-MDA team made an assessment of Haiti's overall rehabilitation needs, and prepared a plan for global, long-term, orthopedic rehabilitation efforts in Haiti. The plan was presented to Israeli President Peres and former US president Bill Clinton – who initiated the trip -- for funding.

Among other items, the team is proposing the establishment of a joint Haitian-Israeli Rehabilitation Center in Haiti, based on rotating Israeli medical teams which will both treat patients and train local personnel, at an annual cost of approximately $1.5 million.

Colonel Kryce walks in the shadow of many previous Sheba Medical Center doctors who also were senior commanders of the IDF medical corps. This includes the past director of Sheba, Col. (res.) Prof. Bolek Goldman; the current director of the Sheba general hospital, Col. (res.) Dr. Ari Shamiss (who was Surgeon General of the Israel Air Force); Shamiss' current deputy, Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Arnon Afek; the current Surgeon General of the IDF, Brig. Gen. Dr. Nahman Ash; Col. (res.) Dr. Ariel Horowitz of the Sheba gynecology department, and many others.

The Sheba Medical Center is closely tied to and integrated with the Israel Defense Forces. Many IDF medical personnel train at Sheba; most IDF medical field teams train at Sheba's Israel Center for Medical Simulation; and the hospital is the main treatment and rehabilitation facility for IDF wounded.

Sheba CEO Prof. Zeev Rotstein commented that "Sheba has a long and proud tradition of delivering medical assistance beyond our national boundaries. Sheba doctors have provided international relief and medical training in Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mauritania, Myanmar, Peru, Russia, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and more. These activities stem from the hospital’s commitment for the ailing and needy; from the State of Israel’s long-time tradition of contributing to humanitarian relief efforts abroad; and out of an abiding concern for healing and compassion that is ingrained in Jewish history and tradition."