It Only Gets Better From Here: GE Healthcare Arrives at Rabin

L-R: Zeev Vurembrand and Joe Hogan with the new GE 64-Slice CT scanner at Rabin Medical Center

Astrategic collaboration was signed at the end of the 2005 calendar year between Clalit Health Services and GE Healthcare (GEHC). GE Healthcare is the world's leading medical equipment company with revenues exceding 15 billion dollars annually and 40% market share world-wide. The agreement is the first of it kinds in Israel, creating high hopes and expectations.

The multi-faceted agreement refers exclusively to Rabin Medical Center (RMC) and Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel and includes the following:

  • Installment of the most up-to-date equipment GEHC has to offer in the areas of imaging, medical informatics, diagnostics and monitoring systems at RMC
  • Providing Rabin Medical Center with the most up to date equipment at the lowest possible cost
  • Development, evaluation and testing of medical equipment at Rabin Medical Center
  • Research fellowship offered annually for Rabin Medical Center staff members to operate at any of GEHC's Bio-Sciences Laboratories
  • Membership in appropriate GEHC Customer Global Advisory Boards
  • Partnering in mutual scientific medical conferences and initiatives

The negotiated deal with GE Healthcare was signed and closed mostly by Uri Rabinovitz, Deputy Director of Infrastructure and Logistics for Clalit Heath Services, who invested days and nights to bring this partnership to fruition. This agreement puts Rabin Medical Center in a select group of twenty hospitals world-wide that have agreements with GE.

Mr. Zeev Vurmbrand, CEO of Clalit Health Services, and the mastermind behind the strategic cooperation, expressed on numerous occasions that the rational behind positioning RMC at the forefront of medical technology was due largely in part to Clalit's commitment towards is patients.

"We were definitely aiming high" declares Dr. Ziv Rosenbaum, Deputy Director of RMC, who worked on the agreement from its inception. "As a leading medical center in Israel, we are committed to being at the forefront of medical technology and we are grateful that the management of Clalit Health Services share our vision. This agreement has enabled us to advance technologically in leaps and bounds while remaining within the confines of our budget. Moreover, RMC will be at the vanguard of developing trends in the area of medical equipment world-wide".

Today, one year after the agreement was signed, things are moving forward. RMC was equipped with advanced testing and imaging equipment, compulsory for a medical center regarded as a leading entity nationwide. Equipment includes: PET/CT (medical scanner capable of detecting metabolic activity and early stages of small metastasizing cancer cells), 64-Slice CT, angiography suite (for blood vessel catheterization), nuclear medicine cameras and more. In addition to equipment, collaborated research efforts have begun in a variety of areas, subjects and topics.

GE Healthcare's subsidiary branch is located in Haifa, Israel and employs approximately 400 people. One of their main focuses is in the area of development and production. According to Toby Bachar, Director of GE Healthcare Israel, "we are enthusiastic about the choice to include RMC as our strategic partner and we anticipate that this cooperation will set new standards of excellence."

The substance and magnitude of this agreement was clearly demonstrated on part of GE Healthcare, when the President and CEO of the GEHC International, Renaldo Garcia, traveled to Israel for the signing of the contract. No less significant, was Joseph Hogan's (President and CEO of GEHC) gesture, as he landed in his private jet at Ben Gurion airport and rushed to Rabin Medical Center for the signing of the agreement.

Related Articles

Safe Driving a Top Priority


Many people don't realize that more Israelis die in road accidents than in war and terrorist attacks.


read more »

The Smell of Hamantasin - Purim is in the Air


Hamantasin, a filled pastry recognizable for its three-cornered shape, is the most common food eaten during the Jewish holiday of Purim. Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from Haman's plot to annihilate them, as recorded in the Book of Esther.


read more »

15-year-old Girl's Donated Organs Save Four Lives


Family of girl who died of edema of the brain say saving lives foremost, organ donations commemorate her life.


read more »