Dear Friends,

2023 was a complicated year for all of us. The events of its last three months overshadowed our work during the previous months.

While the atrocities of October 7th and the war that followed has locked in our collective attention over the last months of 2023, we have had many notable accomplishments over the course of the year to share with you:

 

In 2023…

More than 3,400 children underwent over 112,000 treatment sessions and assessments at ALYN Hospital in 2023, a record year despite the war!

 

Patients treated included:

• 1,500 children with orthopedic injuries
• 440 children with brain injuries
• 121 cancer survivors
• 18 children with severe burns

PELE (Personalized Equipment Leading to Empowerment)

PELE celebrated 5 years of helping children with tailored technical solutions and had a record number of requests for solutions that children with disabilities face to independence in their everyday lives: 143 requests!

 

ALYNnovation…

Signed new design partnership agreements with three therapeutic device startups:

• Replay Robotics
• Kemtai
• VRSteps

Also began clinical trials with four existing partners:

• Tzora
• Wide
• Cognishine
• Headovations

Is about to begin clinical trails with a fifth partner, Gravity Rehabilitation

 

ALYN PARC Helmsley Pediatric and Adolescent Rehabilitation Research Center

The PARC Helmsley Research Center is building partnerships with leading researchers in the field of trauma and resilience in children and adults, for the purpose of improving existing platforms that have proven successful (for example in the war in Ukraine)

 

Maslul - Therapeutic Sports Center

Maslul opened a new “Dog Therapy” program for children with special needs in Jerusalem and Mevasseret Zion, and added even more children to the groups with the help of volunteers

Teaching Students:

We continue to expose the next generation of Israel’s medical, nursing and clinical therapeutics students of most Israeli colleges and universities pediatric rehabilitation

 

Training Advanced Professionals:

We held professional training sessions at ALYN for continuing education including:

• Senior nursing staff trough the prestigious Ministry of Health course in Administration and Public Policy
• Physicians training in Entrepreneurship and Innovation as part of the Global Health Clerkship by the Israeli Medical Association
• Trainees of all medical professions specializing in Cultural Competency
• Hebrew University Public Health Global program
• ALYN holds training in cooperation with the Israeli Ministry of Education to train educators from all parts of Israel in approaches to teaching children with complex special needs. These courses help create a more accessible environment in schools across Israel. 2023 saw the completion of the 3rd such course for educators of children with brain injuries. A similar training course for educators of students with Cerebral Palsy will launch at the beginning of 2024.
• We trained physiotherapists from Hebron in hydrotherapy towards the
  establishment of a pediatric rehabilitation center there

In 2023, ALYN Hospital…

…inaugurated a newly renovated Imaging Room with a new modern x-ray machine

…prepared for the opening of a new service in cooperation with Hadassah Medical Center: The Young Athletes Sports Injury Rehabilitation Center, which has already begun welcoming its first patients

…participated in professional meetings to present the research and programs of ALYN including the mHealth conference in Tel Aviv for the promotion of medical innovation

…opened the doors of the Gilat Theater Program which brings interactive performances to ALYN’s children each month

 

Swords of Iron War

Impact Report 2023

From Simchat Torah onwards, our focus turned to how we as ALYN Hospital can help:

 

Protecting our patients:

As the war broke, ALYN first made sure we can provide ongoing care to our patients.

• We took immediate steps to provide enough accessible shelter and expand the available “Safe Areas” to ensure the safety of our children during rocket or missile attacks
• We built new shelters in areas previously intended for logistic use
• We moved our whole Outpatient Clinics operation from the top floor of the Hospital down to spaces closer to the shelters
• We provided remote therapy sessions to patients unable to attend in person due to the situation

Giving a helping hand

We outsourced medical and allied health staff to help Sheba-Tel Hashomer Medical Center in their rehabilitation departments which are overwhelmed by wounded soldiers

 

PELE

PELE has been active creating solutions for children whose families have been evacuated from the North and the South of the country, as well as for soldiers and young adults injured in the attacks of October 7th and the war

 

ALYNnovation

Of more than 80 therapeutic device startups that applied, two ALYNnovation partners, Cognishine and Kemtai, were selected by Sheba-Tel Hashomer Medical Center to be integrated into their work with the rehabilitation of injured soldiers

 

Supporting our staff

We supported our own staff members by providing emotional support through our dedicated social workers and psychologists. We assisted our employees who were called to serve in the front lines and their family members, helped those have lost members of their families to the attacks, and concurrently invested in rebuilding and maintaining the trusting relationship between Arabs and Jewish employees within the hospital.

 

Supporting Israel’s Agriculture Industry

More than 100 ALYN Hospital employees picked citrus fruit to help farmers in need of helping hands due to the shortage of workers. We organized a bulk purchase by employees of organic vegetables grown by farms in the South, and chose to give our employees houseplants from the hothouses of the evacuated kibbutzim to support them.

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Looking ahead to 2024

Physical Therapy

Our Physical Therapy Department, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, will be holding a training course to improve the skills of physical therapists from across the country working in early childhood development programs with young children who require the use of ventilators.

 

Maslul - Therapeutic Sports Center

Our “Maslul” Sports Center, which offers afternoon sports programs for children with special needs, will be expanding programs in more Jerusalem suburbs, enabling even more young people to benefit from its activities.

 

Renovations to the Hospital

We are eager to start renovations, which will change the hospital- starting with its lobby, school and day care – please stay tuned!

 

2023 was a year of continuing growth and productivity, helping more children at the hospital and advocating for their inclusion in society. We are resilient, but need your help to reach even more children and make an even greater difference in 2024 and beyond.

We are praying for the end of the war, the safe return of the hostages and the recovery of those recuperating in body and spirit from the events. We pledge to keep ALYN Hospital a vibrant, forward looking and caring environment, to put the needs of the children first as we are here to ensure that they can dream of a better future.

Maurit Beeri MD
ALYN Hospital Director General