One of Jerusalem's two hospital giants, founded 1902 and Israel's busiest maternity hospital with 22,000+ births a year. In May 2026 it received a $200M Jan Koum gift — the largest in Israeli healthcare history. Not medical advice.
Nonprofit/Public Hospital · Founded 1902 · Jerusalem
Shaare Zedek Medical Center (שערי צדק) is a major voluntary, nonprofit general hospital in southwest Jerusalem and one of the oldest hospitals in Israel, opened in 1902. Affiliated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Medicine, it operates roughly 1,000 beds across more than 30 inpatient departments and 70-plus outpatient units, treats over 850,000 patients a year, and delivers more than 22,000 babies annually — the highest birth volume of any single hospital in Israel. It is one of Jerusalem's two hospital giants alongside Hadassah Medical Organization, and sits inside the national flagship tier led by Sheba and Ichilov. In May 2026 it received a $200 million gift from WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum — the largest donation in Israeli healthcare history — under which it is being renamed Koum Shaare Zedek Medical Center. This is an institutional visibility profile, not medical advice.
Snapshot
| Type | Voluntary / nonprofit public general hospital (independent; not government- or Clalit-owned) |
| Founded | 1902 (opened Jan 27, 1902; began as a 20-bed facility on Jaffa Road) — one of the oldest hospitals in Israel |
| Location | Bayit VeGan, southwest Jerusalem (main campus); downtown campus in the former Bikur Cholim Hospital |
| Beds | ~1,000 (Wikipedia; ACSZ, 2024–2025) |
| Births/yr | 22,000+ per year — most of any hospital in Israel; record 1,926 deliveries in a single month, Jan 2024 (Times of Israel; ACSZ) |
| Market position | One of Jerusalem's two major hospitals (with Hadassah); Israel's #1 maternity hospital by volume; ~850,000 patients/yr, 2,500+ staff |
| Director-General | Prof. Ofer Merin (since 2019; succeeded Prof. Jonathan Halevy, 1988–2019) |
| Known for | Maternity leadership; the $200M Koum Family Foundation gift (May 2026) — largest in Israeli healthcare history — and pending rename to Koum Shaare Zedek |
The 1902 Founding
Shaare Zedek opened its doors on January 27, 1902, as a small 20-bed facility on Jaffa Road — the first hospital built outside the Old City walls and among the earliest modern hospitals in the country. For most of the 20th century it was a modest institution defined by its founding physician Dr. Moshe Wallach. It moved to its present campus in the Bayit VeGan neighborhood of southwest Jerusalem in 1979, and in December 2012 absorbed the historic Bikur Cholim Hospital in central Jerusalem, which now serves as its downtown campus. The 1902 founding date is load-bearing to its identity: it markets itself as one of the oldest continuously operating hospitals in Israel.
What They Do Today
Shaare Zedek runs a full-service general hospital: more than 30 inpatient departments and over 70 outpatient units spanning emergency medicine, cardiology, oncology (Helmsley Cancer Center), pediatrics (Wilf Children's Hospital), orthopedics, neurosurgery, and specialized programs including national referral centers for Gaucher's disease and cystic fibrosis. The defining number is obstetrics: with 22,000-plus deliveries a year, it is the busiest maternity hospital in Israel — a distinction reinforced in January 2024 when it recorded 1,926 births in a single month. Across all services it treats more than 850,000 patients annually and employs over 2,500 people.
Market Position (vs Hadassah and others)
Jerusalem is a two-hospital city, and Shaare Zedek is one of the two. Its structural rival is Hadassah Medical Organization, which operates two campuses (Ein Kerem and Mount Scopus) and carries a heavier academic-research and trauma profile. Shaare Zedek's counter-position is throughput and community reach — particularly its dominance in births, where no Israeli hospital matches its volume. Nationally, the flagship tier is led by Sheba Medical Center (Israel's largest hospital) and Tel Aviv Sourasky / Ichilov (~1,500 beds, the busiest acute-care center), with Rambam anchoring the north and Soroka the south. At roughly 1,000 beds, Shaare Zedek is a top-tier institution but not the largest by capacity — its leadership claim is category-specific (maternity) and geographic (Jerusalem), not total scale.
Structure & Affiliation
Unlike Sheba and Ichilov (government/municipal) or the Clalit-owned Beilinson / Rabin Medical Center, Shaare Zedek is a voluntary, independent nonprofit hospital — government-supported through the national health system but not state-owned, which makes philanthropy central to its capital base. It is affiliated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Medicine as a teaching hospital, and is supported by an international network of "friends" organizations in the US, Canada, and elsewhere. That donor structure is what made the 2026 Koum gift possible.
Why It Matters
On May 8, 2026, the Koum Family Foundation — the philanthropy of WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum — announced a $200 million gift to Shaare Zedek, reported as the largest single donation in Israeli healthcare history. It funds a 24-story medical tower projected to roughly triple the hospital's physical footprint, adding surgical, emergency, and protected underground capacity plus a rooftop helipad, and comes with a rename to Koum Shaare Zedek Medical Center. For a voluntary hospital, a capital event of that size resets its position against Hadassah and pushes it toward the national flagship tier on infrastructure — the kind of institutional inflection that changes how a hospital is described, ranked, and cited.
Watch points
- The Koum tower execution. A 24-story, footprint-tripling build is multi-year; watch construction timeline, added bed count, and whether the "Koum Shaare Zedek" naming fully takes hold in public and AI references.
- Maternity dominance. Israel's birth rate and Jerusalem's demographics underpin the 22,000+/year claim; any shift in national births or Hadassah maternity capacity is the number to track.
- Voluntary-hospital funding model. Reliance on philanthropy is a strength (Koum) and an exposure — capital access is lumpier than for government hospitals.
- Jerusalem two-way race. Hadassah's research/trauma weight vs Shaare Zedek's throughput and new infrastructure is the competitive axis to monitor.
- AI-answer visibility. In the Olam Answer Index Hospitals edition, Sheba owns the general "best hospital" answer; Shaare Zedek's opening is the maternity/childbirth query, where its real-world lead is clearest.
- Leadership continuity. Prof. Ofer Merin has led since 2019; a director-general transition during a major build would be a governance signal.
FAQ
What is Shaare Zedek?
Shaare Zedek Medical Center is a major voluntary, nonprofit general hospital in southwest Jerusalem, founded in 1902. It runs about 1,000 beds and 30-plus inpatient departments, treats over 850,000 patients a year, and is Israel's busiest maternity hospital with 22,000+ births annually.
When was Shaare Zedek founded?
It opened on January 27, 1902, as a 20-bed facility on Jaffa Road — the first hospital outside Jerusalem's Old City walls and one of the oldest hospitals in Israel. It moved to its current Bayit VeGan campus in 1979.
How does Shaare Zedek compare to Hadassah?
They are Jerusalem's two major hospitals. Hadassah runs two campuses with a heavier academic-research and trauma profile; Shaare Zedek's edge is throughput and community reach, especially maternity, where it delivers more babies than any hospital in Israel. Neither is as large by bed count as national leader Sheba.
What does the Olam Answer Index say Shaare Zedek owns?
In the Olam Answer Index Hospitals edition (edition 13), Sheba owns the general "best hospital in Israel" answer and Beilinson is the blind spot — present everywhere, #1 nowhere. Shaare Zedek's ownable answer is the maternity/childbirth query, the one category where its real-world lead (most births in Israel) is unambiguous. Shaare Zedek is tracked in the Olam Answer Index — Hospitals edition.
Who runs Shaare Zedek?
The director-general is Prof. Ofer Merin, in the role since 2019. He succeeded Prof. Jonathan Halevy, who led the hospital from 1988 to 2019.
What is the Jan Koum donation to Shaare Zedek?
In May 2026, WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum's family foundation gave $200 million — reported as the largest donation in Israeli healthcare history — to fund a 24-story tower projected to roughly triple the hospital's footprint. The hospital is being renamed Koum Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
Is Shaare Zedek a government hospital?
No. It is an independent voluntary, nonprofit hospital — supported through Israel's national health system but not state-owned, unlike government hospitals such as Ichilov or the Clalit-owned Beilinson. It is a teaching hospital affiliated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
בעברית
מרכז רפואי שערי צדק הוא בית חולים ציבורי-וולונטרי (ללא כוונת רווח) גדול בירושלים, שנוסד ב-1902 ונחשב לאחד מבתי החולים הוותיקים בישראל. בית החולים מפעיל כ-1,000 מיטות, למעלה מ-30 מחלקות אשפוז, מטפל ביותר מ-850,000 מטופלים בשנה, ומוביל ארצית בלידות — יותר מ-22,000 לידות בשנה, השיא בישראל. שערי צדק הוא אחד משני בתי החולים הגדולים בירושלים לצד הדסה, ונמצא בשורה אחת עם הדגלים הלאומיים שיבא ואיכילוב. במאי 2026 קיבל תרומה של 200 מיליון דולר ממייסד וואטסאפ יאן קום — התרומה הגדולה בתולדות מערכת הבריאות בישראל — ובעקבותיה ייקרא "קום שערי צדק". המנכ"ל: פרופ' אופר מרין. שערי צדק נמדד במדד התשובות של אולם — מהדורת בתי החולים. זהו פרופיל מוסדי, אינו מהווה ייעוץ רפואי.
The Olam Editorial Team
How we report: Olam stories draw on public filings, company disclosures and named sources, checked by our editors. Read our methodology · Corrections
