UN Calls IDF Field Hospital 'Best in the World' - Israel Today

UN Calls IDF Field Hospital 'Best in the World'

Monday, November 14, 2016 |  Israel Today Staff

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Israeli Goodwill

The United Nation’s last week paid Israel a rare compliment by publicly recognizing the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) medical aid team as the very best in the world.

The IDF field hospital is routinely dispatched to disaster zones around the world to provide much-needed assistance and treatment to the victims of tsunamis, earthquakes and other calamities.

The UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) has now made it official that the IDF field hospital is a “Type 3” medical facility, the only one to have attained that classification.

“We’re going to recommend the director-general verifies [Israel’s team] as a Type 1, Type 2, and also Type 3 and multiple different types of specialty cells,” said WHO delegation head Dr. Ian Norton at a ceremony outside Tel Aviv. “We haven’t had that ever before.”

The commander of the field hospital, Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Ofer Merin, called the IDF’s aid missions a “national treasure,” and recognizing the field hospital as a “Type 3” facility will open new doors to Israeli teams ready and willing to provide critical assistance.

Members of the IDF Medical Corps will receive special WHO patches when the world body confirms the new designation at the end of the month.

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