Eilat on the way to a revolution: "This is a project that will change the face of the city for generations"
The city of Eilat has suffered from a severe shortage of efficient medical services since its inception. The city hopes to overcome this by training medical staff at a dedicated faculty that will be established for this purpose in Eilat, with an expected opening this September.
Eilat produces 100% of its electricity during the day by itself. The eternal sun is fully harnessed for this, and the mayor of the city, Eli Lankri (73), is certainly pleased with this: "We are now working on storage solutions to provide independent electricity even during the dark hours," he told 'Maariv'.
However, he is not at all happy about the health services: "These services in the city are inferior. I am not ashamed to say it. There are on average more than 100,000 people in Eilat every day. In this season, there are close to 140,000 people. I am dealing with the matter all the time. It can be said that there is progress in the efforts to improve the situation. In the last four years, hundreds of millions of shekels have been invested in this. A special helicopter was brought, new departments were established, and a new building is being built with operating rooms and internal departments. There is also improvement in everything related to mental health. The situation is still far from satisfying us."
Many residents have to travel to distant places to receive the medical treatment they need: "A situation must be created where as many treatments and services as possible are provided here," Lankri determined. The main problem is attracting doctors who will want to live in the city. The shortage of medical staff has led to stories of near-disasters due to the absence of sufficiently efficient services. The story of the health system in Eilat is a symptom of difficulties related to two main issues: distance and climate.
"Doing everything to keep the young people here"
The city has a prominent advantage: being located on the shore of the Red Sea, which is a source for almost everything related to livelihood and the economy. It is a tourist attraction, a commercial route, a research space, and a greenhouse for marine agriculture. But the scorching weather and the relatively large distance from the center dull the advantage of being adjacent to economic waters. Overcoming the distance requires special preparation, which greatly affects evacuations to hospitals in the center of the country.
Lankri bases his solution on expanding human capital by bringing a variety of training to the city, mainly in the medical aspect. The academic campus established in Eilat is supposed to provide an answer to this, for training in medical professions as well as exact and social sciences. It has already been operating for three years with branches of the Levinsky-Wingate College, the College of Management, the Open University, and the Kiryat Ono College. The Sami Shamoon College of Engineering is expected to join, and in a few weeks, the medical faculty will be launched.
Medical training will be done through cooperation with a faculty from the University of Debrecen in Hungary. "This is our flagship project. A huge venture that will change the face of the city for future generations. We will launch it towards the upcoming Rosh Hashanah." The Eilat branch is supposed to attract students to study in the country together with immigrants from Europe and North America. Lankri noted that 30 Jewish medical students from France have already expressed their desire to immigrate and study at the new faculty. Students will be offered scholarships on the condition that they commit to working in the city for at least five years.
Developing the academic side requires improving additional infrastructure. Projects include expanding the seaport, planning railway connections, creating a "green city" with electric buses, and utilizing renewable energy. The city is also expected to become a global center for marine agriculture.
Regarding the competing city of Aqaba on the Jordanian side, Lankri said: "It is a different city. The tourism there is different. I respect Aqaba, but it is a different tourist product." Despite the crises of the last seven years, including the pandemic and the war, Eilat has managed to recover. During the Corona period, it became a "green island," and in recent years, it provided shelter to tens of thousands of evacuees from the Gaza envelope.
Security as a priority
If bringing medical studies to the city is the flagship project, then returning to peaks in the tourism industry is the second. In Eilat, 2,000 more hotel rooms are under construction, and the Terminal Park has been established where the airport once stood. Addressing high prices, Lankri noted: "We are trying to guide operators. Soon we will introduce a digital wallet for discounts. Operators understand that to survive in the long run, they must make a change."
Eilat is preparing for the festive launch of the medical faculty. Security remains at the top of the priority list, especially after warnings from the head of the Shin Bet. "I am very happy that the head of the Shin Bet and other security officials are directing operational attention to Eilat. They clarified that there is no new immediate threat. They are reinforcing the region and the eastern border. As of now, Eilat is well protected." And so, 77 years after the hoisting of the ink flag in Umm Rashrash, the city will gain its own medical faculty, which is expected to significantly improve health services.
