Alone among Israel’s 30+ hospitals, Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Centre is the country’s only non-governmental community hospital. From the day it was founded, the hospital has been on a quest for truly innovative and outside-the-box solutions.
One burning issue is the provision of mental health care to non-Israeli citizens who are not covered by the various Health Funds. Particularly vulnerable are English-speaking students who spend several months attending Israeli seminaries, yeshivot and other gap-year programs. These students are cut off from their regular supportive home and school environments. There are several private-sector English-speaking mental health experts, but they charge accordingly. Some students are simply falling through the cracks. The life-changing events of 7 October 2023 prompted Mayanei Hayeshua’s Mental Health Centre to launch its innovative Trauma and Anxiety Clinic. The clinic will be headed by Dr. Bella Shanzer, a Board-Certified psychiatrist, and her team will include a psychologist and a clinical social worker. Students will receive an immediate mental health assessment, and the staff will liaise with the students’ educational facilities – as well as with the students’ parents – in formulating follow-up treatment, if required. To ensure that senior staff of seminaries, yeshivot and other gap-year programmes know about this initiative, the Mental Health Centre is running workshops aimed at supplying tools for identifying and responding to early symptoms of emotional distress.
To increase awareness among parents, educators and local mental health professionals, Mayanei Hayeshua is organising an information evening in London on 22 May to publicise the benefits of the Trauma and Anxiety Clinic.
