Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 415

urgent need for erecting a new town hospital accommodating 400 beds, together with a department for infectious diseases, in Tel-Aviv. These requests were not satisfied by the Government authorities, who did not recognise the need for an increase in the number of beds to such an extent. It is only lately that the Government has recognised the urgency of this matter and has given its consent to the erection of this hospital, together with a promise of financial assistance. Steps are also being taken for the erection of hospitals in a number of colonies in co-operation with the Government and the local councils. The Health Department dealt also Avith the problem of constructing a new hospital at Haifa to replace the present one, which is situated on hired and entirely inadequate premises. The Government, together with the P.I.C.A., have provided a suitable plot at Hadar Hacarmel, and there is every reason to believe that construction will begin during the next few months. 8. Another problem not less serious, which has occupied the attention of our social and medical institutions for a long time, is the lack of accommodation for the mentally diseased. There are frequent instances of serious mental cases where the patients prove a real danger to the public safety, and where they cannot be admitted to hospitals because of lack of accommodation. The Government mental hospital at Bethlehem with a total accommodation of 130 beds, obviously cannot serve the needs of a population numbering 1,200,000 souls. More than half of the patients in the above institution are Jewish. The two Jewish mental hospitals with a total accommodation of 120 beds are overcrowded. According to our estimates there are about 250 mentally affected Jews in urgent need of hospital treatment. Six years ago the Government sanctioned the plans for erecting a Central Mental Hospital in Jerusalem, and had also acquired a suitable plot. Building operations may perhaps begin during this year. 9. The budgets of the Jewish medical institutions for the last financial year (1933-1934) were the following: ■ Income. Expenditure. £P. £l\ Hadassah Medical Organisation ... ... 70,437 70,226 The Sick Fund of the Labour Federation 113,614 119,076 The National Sick Fund (in the Colonies) 7,570 7,503 Total ......... 191,618 196,805 These figures do not include the budgets of , the Tel-Aviv municipal hospital, the Haifa Jewish Hospital, and the budgets of Jewish hospitals supported by charitable societies. The Government granted the Vaad Leumi the sum of ,£P. 4,245 for the financial year 1934-35. .415