As YWN Israel has previously reported, American Friends of Magen David Adom, Magen David Adom in Israel and their special guest, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, will officially dedicate the completely rebuilt and modernized William H. Bloomberg Jerusalem MDA Station on Sunday evening, October 23, at 6:00 pm.

Invited to join with Mayor Bloomberg in opening the new facility named in memory of his father are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres and other key government ministers, as well as Mayor Nir Barkat of Jerusalem and US Ambassador Dan Shapiro.

The opening of the William H. Bloomberg Jerusalem MDA Station will be a milestone not just in the history, and to the benefit, of Jerusalem, but will be a milestone for MDA and the State of Israel. Jerusalem is not only Israel’s capital city but also the country’s largest city. The facility was first constructed in 1963, and renovated and expanded in 1970 to serve a population of approximately 300,000.  Today, the Jerusalem region counts more than 1.2 million residents. When Mayor Bloomberg and American Friends of Magen David Adom joined together to undertake the dramatic reconstruction and modernization of the MDA Jerusalem Station the facility was obsolete and insufficient to serve the city’s growing needs.  Jerusalem is also Israel’s most culturally diverse city and MDA Jerusalem’s professionals and volunteers are drawn from every segment of this population, from Jews, Muslim and Christian Arabs to a wide array of other national and religious groups who all regard it as the Holy City.

The newly renovated building features new pedestrian walkways, access roads and separate parking levels for private automobiles and MDA emergency service vehicles, significantly improving Magen David Adom’s ability to get its ambulances on the road to answer emergencies. Ambulance bays are located adjacent to where paramedics, EMTs and drivers will be stationed and there will be a separate bloodmobile parking area on the ground floor level with direct access to the spacious and comfortable state-of-the-art  new Blood Collection Center. In addition to new quarters for crews, a training center and classrooms, offices and meeting rooms, there will be a new Dispatch Center, utilizing the latest GPS system that can pinpoint every building in the city and its environs, as well as MDA’s ground breaking “Motobridge” communications system that enables its staff to receive emergency calls and alerts online and from every type of communications device. 

The Nancy and Morris W. Offit Conference Center, built with the generous contributions from New Yorkers who joined AFMDA in honoring Morris W. Offit in 2008, is located adjacent to The Visitor’s Center, which will feature exhibits and interactive virtual honor rolls as well as video presentations.

Nearly two decades before the establishment of the State of Israel, Magen David Adom (MDA) was established as Israel’s national life saving organization. In 1940, the American Jewish community recognized the dire need to support these efforts and laid the foundation for more than seven decades of American support of these efforts.  Over the years, the American Friends of Magen David Adom (AFMDA) has become a vital and vibrant organization supporting MDA, raising in excess of $20 million per year. Today, there is no other organization in Israel that provides these crucial services, and there is no other American organization that supports the life saving efforts of MDA in specific, or in Israel on the whole, helping to save the lives of Israelis of all backgrounds.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)