About the Carmel Tunnels
Rambam Hospital is one of the largest hospitals in Israel, and as a result, it is also one of the most recognized. But in Haifa, there is another hospital that the residents of the city and the surrounding area benefit from, Carmel Hospital, located in the Ahuzat neighborhood in Haifa. Carmel Hospital is a hospital of Clalit Health Services, named after Lady Davis, and it was founded in 1945. It is an excellent hospital that currently has over 400 beds, and those who need advanced medical services can definitely find them in this hospital. So here is some information about the hospital, its history, and what it has today.
The Beginning
Carmel Hospital was established in a different location than it is today and was planned back in 1935 when the original purpose of the building was not to serve as a hospital but to serve as a hotel. During those years, there was an immigration wave from Germany, and with the outbreak of events, the building became “The House of German Immigrants.” This building also served the underground movements, specifically the Haganah, and it had a cache where weapons of the underground were hidden. As is known, immigration from Germany stopped during World War II, and since there was no reason to maintain the building, it was sold to Clalit Health Services to be used as a hospital. The hospital director was a native of Germany who immigrated to the country in 1933 and lived in the place when it was still “The House of German Immigrants.”
The New Location
Carmel Hospital in its new location was built in 1976, a building designed by architect Yaakov Rechter, and it has 7 floors. In that year, most of the departments were transferred from the old building to the new building, and the old building still served the hospital. To this day, the old building has various departments as well as the outpatient clinics of the hospital.
In 2006, during the Second Lebanon War, Haifa was one of the most bombarded cities. As a lesson from this war, a protected emergency room was established at Carmel Hospital so that it could be used during an attack without any fear.
If in the past, to reach the hospital one had to go through the city itself, in recent years, those arriving from various areas of the city as well as from outside it can enjoy Road 23, which is the Carmel Tunnels Road.
How to get there via Road 23?
Road 23 is a road that bypasses the city center of Haifa, so there is no need to stand in any traffic jams in the city on the way. You can enter it from Road 4 or Road 2, and its western exit is from the Ruppin Interchange. From the Ruppin Interchange, the travel time to Carmel Hospital is short, and an 8-minute drive on Pika Road, followed by a right turn onto Road 672 and then onto Renk Street, will lead directly to the hospital. There is no doubt that the Carmel Tunnels Road saves a lot of time in getting there, which can be very significant for ambulances as well as in emergency cases in private vehicles, and overall, it is more convenient for everyone.