This is the world's largest underground wartime hospital: it can withstand chemical attacks

In 2006, during the Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah launched more than 4,000 rockets and missiles at northern Israel, hitting numerous cities, including Haifa. These attacks killed at least 44 Israeli civilians and forced more than a million people to seek shelter or evacuate the region.

That conflict highlighted the need for protected medical facilities in the country. Rambam Medical Center, one of Israel's finest hospitals and located in Haifa, took the initiative to build an underground wartime hospital in its own parking lot.

Many of the Hezbollah projectiles landed near the Rambam Medical Center, so medics were treating patients under enemy fire for the first time. Furthermore, all patients were taken down to the basements, which were unprepared for this situation.

Once the war was over, Rambam decided that the safety of patients and medical staff would never again be compromised. In 2010, construction began on the Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital on three levels of its parking lot.

The underground hospital opened in 2014 and has the capacity to house more than 2,000 beds in an area totaling 60,000 square meters. It is considered the largest underground facility in the world for medical emergencies.

El Comercio visited the underground hospital and saw that it is now operating as a parking lot. The place looks very clean, the floors shine, and the walls and ceiling display all the equipment needed for a hospital to operate, ready to be installed.

Its three floors are equipped to house operating rooms, delivery rooms, an intensive care unit, a dialysis center, and a large decontamination center for the treatment of patients exposed to non-conventional weapons. According to its management, the facility is not yet equipped for its full capacity.

When the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, 2023, two floors of the underground parking garage were occupied with more than 1,000 beds in anticipation of attacks from Lebanon . However, now that the situation in the north is under control, everything has been dismantled.

Monica Davidovich, director of the Latin American Office at Rambam Hospital, told us that in an emergency, the hospital is capable of setting up up to 700 beds in one day in the underground parking lot.

He added that the entire process of having 2,200 beds in place takes just three days.

He stated that it is designed to withstand conventional, chemical, and biological attacks. It has independent power, drinking water, oxygen, and medical supply systems, allowing it to operate autonomously for up to 72 hours.

He acknowledged that it is not easy to manage an underground hospital for a long time.

Davidovich indicated that a space for three cars becomes a place where a bed can fit.

He also said they hoped to spark interest among many governments in the underground hospital, but so far only two Central European countries have inquired about its construction and management. He couldn't say which nations because they have requested confidentiality.

He added that those who have asked the most questions and visited the underground hospital are journalists.

The underground hospital also serves non-war emergencies, as it was opened in 2020 to accommodate patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Avi Weissman, deputy director of Rambam Hospital, said the medical complex has the capacity to treat 2.5 million people from northern Israel annually , also serves the armed forces, and before October 7 received patients from Gaza.

Some Gazan patients who were at Rambam before the war are still there because it's impossible for them to return home, Weissman said.

"We're the best at treating trauma; many doctors and nurses come here to learn. We perform neurosurgery without opening the skull; we use ultrasound for that," Weissman said.

The underground hospital project was made possible thanks to a significant donation from philanthropist Sammy Ofer, along with funding from the Israeli government and other organizations.