Overview
- Rambam Health Care Campus has activated its three‑floor underground complex, converting a routine parking structure into a 2,000–2,200‑bed hospital and moving roughly 900 patients below ground in about eight hours during the recent escalation.
- The facility was designed after the 2006 Lebanon War, took years to build with heavy waterproofing because it sits below sea level, and is fortified to withstand missile, drone, chemical and biological threats while operating self‑sufficiently for several days.
- Hospital figures report that since the start of Operation Rising Lion the site has treated nearly 10,000 civilians and 144 soldiers wounded by missile and drone strikes, with about 14 soldiers still receiving care there; these counts are reported by Rambam and may be provisional.
- The underground hospital contains full clinical services including intensive care, operating theatres and an obstetrics unit, and it runs a daycare to support staff families; Rambam says roughly 6,500 nurses and 2,000 doctors are allocated to sustain care during prolonged attacks.
- Officials and foreign observers say Rambam’s dual‑use design and rapid activation offer a blueprint for conflict‑zone medical planning, and clinicians report a shift in injuries toward severe limb trauma and amputations linked to modern drone and missile weapons.