'Everything is protected': Israel opens 2,000-bed hospital in parking garage amid war

An underground parking garage at one of Israel’s biggest health-care centres has been transformed into a 2,000-bed hospital — a safe place to care for patients and wounded soldiers should a second front open in the north of the country.

“Everything is underground, everything is protected,” says Dr. Michael Halbertal, the director of the Rambam Medical Centre in Haifa.

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Preparations to open this facility began last week when tensions with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group in southern Lebanon, started to escalate amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Unlike the missiles in the south from Hamas, which Halbertal says “are extremely inaccurate,” the missiles from Hezbollah are “much more powerful, much more explosive and much more accurate.”

The idea to create this $140-million fortified hospital came in 2006 during Israel’s war with Hezbollah. Seventy rockets fell near the hospital, and while none made a direct hit, it raised questions about how to protect patients during times of war.

Not only can this hospital treat patients, in the event it needs to be sealed off, it has enough water, food and oxygen for 8,000 people for three days.

”The place is fortified for conventional and non-conventional war. Non-conventional meaning chemical warfare.”

The decision to activate this hospital came last week, and it took staff and Israeli Defense Force soldiers 30 hours to get it up and running.

Halbertal says step one was to get the cars out. The ground was then cleaned and equipment like beds and cribs were brought in.

Not only can the hospital treat patients, in the event it needs to be sealed off, it has enough water, food and oxygen for 8,000 people for three days. (Heather Wright, CTV News)

But most of the infrastructure was already built into the parking garage. Each parking spot has a panel that flips up to reveal power and oxygen connections. There’s an obstetrics area, a place for dialysis and an operating room.

“Each and every bed in this hospital is supplied by all the necessities,” says Halbertal.

The hope is this hospital will not be needed. But if it is, Halbertal says staff are ready. Many lost friends and family in the south and this is a way for them to give back and help.

“Events like this are extremely difficult to absorb, to hear the stories,” he says. “But the commitment of our staff is unbelievable.”

In addition to housing the current patients being treated in the hospital above ground, the fortified hospital can also treat wounded soldiers and civilians.

As of Monday, the war has claimed the lives of more than 4,000 people.