Friedman Family Donates NIS 200 Million for Major Rehabilitation Hospital in Sde Dov

The Friedmann family foundation will donate NIS 200 million to help build the Housidman Rehabilitation Hospital at Sde Dov in Tel Aviv, a new facility expected to become Israel’s largest rehabilitation hospital. The project’s total cost is estimated at about $390 million, and the donation is described as a key pillar of Tel Aviv Foundation’s “strategy of hope” in its 50th year.

The new hospital will replace the current Reuth Rehabilitation Hospital in Yad Eliyahu and is expected to be completed in about six years. It will include roughly 540 beds, a trauma clinic, an expanded day-rehabilitation unit, advanced treatment spaces, imaging, a hydrotherapy pool, specialized clinics, a research and development incubator, and green areas for patients and families. A separate public housing building with about 250 apartments is also planned next to the hospital.

Reuth, which marks 65 years since its founding, is affiliated with the Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University and operates as part of the Reuth Association. It is a public, independent hospital with orthopedic, neurological, head-injury, geriatric, and respiratory rehabilitation units, as well as Israel’s largest rehabilitation day-hospital and a post-trauma center serving, among others, victims of the October 7 attacks and the war.

Yigal Housidman said rehabilitation medicine had long been underrecognized in Israel and that the war had shown how essential it is “to restore life, dignity and independence” to injured people. He said the family wanted to support the recovery of those who defended Israel and pay tribute to their sacrifice through a world-class rehabilitation center. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said the hospital would strengthen Israel’s rehabilitation system, while Reuth chairman Prof. Nachman Ash said the partnership would help expand services for patients nationwide and improve hospitalization conditions. The hospital is being developed in coordination with the Health and Finance ministries, which are still finalizing the state’s funding share.