At the 2025 Jerusalem Post Annual New York Conference, Meuhedet Chairman Eyal Gabbai discussed the healthcare provider’s swift emergency response following October 7 and its future plans for Israel’s periphery with Inbal Ann Bouskila.

Gabbai emphasized the urgent necessity for expanded medical infrastructure in the Negev, where only one hospital presently serves more than a million residents. “Once upon a time, [Israel’s first prime minister David] Ben-Gurion said the future of Israel was in the Negev,” he said. “The government rightly decided to open another hospital... owned by Meuhedet and built with Sheba [Medical Center]. This is very important. First of all, it’s healthy competition that will ensure residents of the South receive high quality health-care. And second, we will be able to provide continuity of care in the hospital and in the community.”

Addressing Meuhedet’s swift response to the October 7 Hamas attacks, Gabbai said, “Everyone was in shock... people who hid in their homes, fled their houses, Nova participants, and people who saw unimaginable horrors. We were able to recruit our staff, our social workers, and psychologists, and within an hour from the beginning of the war, we [had] launched a 24/7 emergency mental support hotline. Thousands of people reached out to us.”

He emphasized the importance of ongoing mental health support: “We must make sure that the trauma we endured does not become post-trauma.”

In response to mass evacuations, Meuhedet deployed mobile healthcare units and tele-medicine services nationwide.

“We understood that it’s going to be a prolonged situation, and we must bring the services to them,” Gabbai explained. He noted that critical services such as women’s health care were being prioritized: “You need [them] all the time, and equipment is needed... so we opened a mobile healthcare unit traveling around the country.”

Meuhedet’s investment in Sderot, which recently inaugurated a new healthcare center, underscores the fund’s commitment to the South. Gabbai defined that decision as a Zionist one. “At the very moment we were going to cut the ribbon, a siren went off,” he recalled. “But then we went back, opened the clinic, and stood tall, knowing we won’t allow anything to get in the way of our vision.”

The health provider’s chairman envisions a future where AI plays a crucial role in preventive medicine, enabling diagnosis before illness develops. He emphasized the importance of maintaining personalized services, which he considers essential, and being there for each and every one of the patients, understanding and addressing their individual needs.

This article was written in cooperation with Meuhedet.