Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Undergo Prostate Cancer Surgery

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the press today that during a routine medical check-up at the Sheba Medical Center he was diagnosed with "microscopic and limited" prostate cancer. Olmert underwent a biopsy of the prostate at Sheba on October 19 and will have his complete prostate removed in surgery to be scheduled within approximately two months.

Professor Shlomo Segev, Chief of Executive Screening at Sheba, and Professor Jacob Ramon, Chief of Urology and Uro-Oncology at Sheba, are treating the Prime Minister.

The Sheba "Seker" Executive Healthcare Center - where Olmert was examined -- and the Merav Comprehensive Women's Healthcare Center at Sheba, conduct high-level screening against disease and full-scale medical check-ups for the general public as well as senior public officials and leading executives.

The Sheba Medical Center is the most comprehensive medical center in Israel and the Middle East, recognized internationally for its leadership in clinical treatment, as well as basic and applied medical research. It is situated on a 150-acre campus at Tel Hashomer on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, comprising 120 departments and clinics and 1,700 beds, employing more than 1,300 physicians, 2,400 nurses and 3,300 other healthcare workers, scientists and support staff. The medical center uniquely combines a major Acute Care Hospital with a Rehabilitation Hospital, Women's Hospital, Children's Hospital, Laboratory Division, Outpatient Division, and an Academic Campus. It is the teaching center for Tel Aviv University's medical and nursing schools, and is home to Israel's national institutes of health, central blood bank, and military rehabilitation facilities.