FAREWELL

Dear Friends,

This certainly is one of the hardest letters I ever had to write when I have to tell you that the time has come and I need to say good bye, close to the finish line to my retirement and a bit prematurely.

I was called upon by our Minister of Health, MK Yakov Litzman, to head the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. I could not refuse the minister's personal and public request to join this important and urgent mission to pull Hadassah out of its present pitiful situation and bring it back on track.

I have served the Sheba Medical Center for the last 36 years, serving as its director and CEO for the last 11 years. It's my second home, my life's work.

During the course of the last months, I went through deep and serious contemplations. It's not an easy thing for me to leave Sheba Medical Center. You know me well enough to understand that my heart and soul belong to Sheba. The Sheba staff for me is like family – and I am proud to be part of such a wonderful family.

I am kind of a soldier myself, serving Sheba and my country for the past 36 years to the best of my abilities. But then I received a transfer order from the "high command" asking me to save Hadassah, to implement the outstanding Sheba success model there and help it survive and become functional again for the benefit of their patient population. I am a good soldier, and when there is a national emergency situation, I answer the call and try to contribute the best I can.

Let me tell you what I leave behind at Sheba, a legacy that started with Prof. Chaim Sheba and Prof. Mordechai Shani, and was then continued by me:

Excellency in:

• Professionalism of clinical treatment that you will find only in the best hospitals in the world;
• Teaching and education programs for students, interns and residents with emphasis on investing in and nurturing the growth of the next generation of doctors and nurses; Sheba's prestigious Talpiot Excellency Program was initiated 10 years ago in order to prepare the medical leadership of tomorrow;
• Investment in infrastructure and breakthrough medical research that puts us on the international map as a leading medical center.

I would run out of paper if I had to write down all that we did and experienced here during the course of all these years. But there is no doubt in my mind that we all can be proud of our achievements. This makes us who we are – Israel's national hospital!

My deepest pride is the high quality of our Sheba staff. We have gathered here a group of excellent people working with devotion and empathy, a professional winning team

that is always ready and masters all challenges put before them. Thanks to their admirable abilities and their love and loyalty to Sheba, we were able to break in borders and make dreams come true.

During my years in office as director of the Sheba Medical Center, I fought many battles to achieve my goals of advancement - always guided by our special "Sheba Spirit" and my heart, and never losing the best of our hospital's interest out of my eyes.

Dear Sheba Friends, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you have done and continue to do for our hospital. I am privileged to have you as partners and know that without your tremendous, generous and heart-warming support, we would not have been able to turn the Sheba Medical Center into the leading and most important hospital in Israel. Together we built an excellent and outstanding medical facility that never stops growing, developing and prospering.

I turn to you with a plea to continue supporting our hospital and my successor who will be representing Sheba as of next year.

                  With deep and sincere gratitude and love!                    

Prof. Zeev Rotstein