School of medicine in TAU
Photo: Tzvika Tishler
School of medicine to be built in Safed
Ministers say new school, research institute will solve shortage of doctors, employment in Galilee
Israel's fifth school of medicine will be constructed in Safed and will include a research institute, a number of ministers have decided together with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who declared the project to be one of national priority.
The decision comes at a time of great shortage of doctors and medical personnel. Two years ago Education Minister Yuli Tamir established a committee to investigate the best locations for the new school, and Safed was decided upon as a method intended to develop the Galilee.
The school of medicine will create a chain of university hospitals out of the various hospitals located throughout the Galilee, and will make sure that they uphold academic standards.
Minister of the development of the Negev and Galilee, Jacob Edery, said the school and its research institute would bolster academic and industrial facilities in the Galilee and reinforce science and technology studies in the various colleges in the area.
"The project will allow the settlement in the Galilee of qualitative groups of scientists, researchers, students, and industries that will provide residents of the area with fine employment opportunities," he said.
Director-general of the Negev and Galilee Development Ministry, Orly Yehezkel, said, "The Galilee is in desperate need of places of employment and wealth of mind, to reinforce the settlement in the entire area. The school of medicine and the research institute will bring this change and significantly improve the employment status in the Galilee."
