{"id":514993,"date":"2026-06-28T11:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T11:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/514993\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T11:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T11:24:11","slug":"jns-summit-delegates-witness-israeli-medical-innovation-at-sheba-medical-center-israel-jewish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/514993\/","title":{"rendered":"JNS Summit delegates witness Israeli medical innovation at Sheba Medical Center – Israel & Jewish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

(June 28, 2026 \/ JNS)\n <\/p>\n

Sixty delegates attending the three-day JNS International Policy Summit on June 21-23 toured Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv, where they witnessed firsthand how Israeli medical innovation is helping wounded soldiers and civilians recover physically and emotionally while driving the development of cutting-edge healthcare technologies.<\/p>\n

The delegation visited Sheba\u2019s hydrotherapy department, the Immersive Rehabilitation Room and the ARC (Accelerate, Redesign, Collaborate) Center for Digital Innovation, where doctors and researchers showcased advances developed at what Newsweek ranks as the world\u2019s seventh-best hospital.<\/p>\n

Water as medicine<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, water is medicine,\u201d said Dr. Caroline Barmatz, who has spent 30 years at Sheba and heads its Hydrotherapy Department.<\/p>\n

Barmatz introduced the group to Sheba\u2019s three hydrotherapy pools and an ice bath, which together treat more than 30,000 patients annually. The aquatic therapies are used for wounded soldiers, trauma survivors, premature babies and elderly patients. Since Oct. 7, 2023, the department has cared for more than 300 wounded soldiers and civilians.<\/p>\n

Visitors watched patients undergoing treatment while one patient\u2019s therapy dog waited attentively beside the pool.<\/p>\n

\u201cTherapy dogs are trained to look after their masters,\u201d Barmatz said with a smile. \u201cOne time, a dog saw his master very relaxed and thought he drowned and he jumped in to the pool. The therapist needed to save both!\u201d<\/p>\n

She described how the department has adapted to the influx of wounded soldiers, including developing more physically demanding rehabilitation programs for highly fit patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens to a person with a gunshot and glass wounds? How soon can we get him into the pool?\u201d she asked, noting that one soldier had begun hydrotherapy just 18 days after surgery.<\/p>\n

Barmatz demonstrated adjustable therapy pools equipped with treadmills that reduce the amount of body weight patients must bear during rehabilitation, as well as virtual reality systems that incorporate activities such as catching a ball or driving a car into therapy sessions.<\/p>\n

She also pointed to an overhead obstacle course designed specifically for recovering soldiers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe built Ninja equipment because what we had wasn\u2019t enough for these guys with such strong arms and legs!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The department\u2019s ice baths, which expose patients to temperatures ranging from 12 to 3 degrees Celsius, have also become increasingly popular.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince Oct. 7, more soldiers want it\u2014there is not enough research\u2014we need more,\u201d Barmatz said. Some soldiers, she added, seek out the ice baths \u201cto feel they can defeat their fears. They want to spend five minutes at 3 degrees!\u201d<\/p>\n

Barmatz admitted she is not an avid swimmer herself. \u201cI like to look at the water as medicine, not sport!\u201d<\/p>\n

Among those visibly impressed was Dr. Daryl Temkin, a psychologist who made aliyah from Los Angeles just over a year ago.<\/p>\n

Having previously worked with stroke patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Temkin said rehabilitation is \u201cthe story of hope and reinstilling hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t have anything there like this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Maya<\/p>\n

Maya Erhlich demonstrates the various uses of the immersion room at Sheba Medical Center, June 24, 2026. Photo by Howard Blas.<\/p>\n

Delegates also toured Sheba\u2019s Immersive Rehabilitation Room, where rehabilitation psychologist Maya Ehrlich, the innovation coordinator at Sheba\u2019s Integrated Rehabilitation Hospital, demonstrated how interactive projection technology helps patients regain cognitive and physical abilities.<\/p>\n

The room transforms into environments such as grocery stores and banks, allowing patients to practice real-world tasks while improving memory, balance and coordination.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw the potential for use in rehabilitation\u2014it is interactive and fun and the software allows us to create our own scenarios,\u201d Ehrlich said.<\/p>\n

She noted that while the project was already under development before Oct. 7, the war accelerated its implementation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe effects of Oct. 7 and the subsequent war did help us push this project forward much faster,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have lots of young soldiers injured in the war that benefit from this room as it is now starting to be part of their rehab.\u201d<\/p>\n

Angie Segal, media liaison for the South African Zionist Federation, said the immersive rehabilitation room left the greatest impression.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than any technology or medical breakthrough, it was the Immersive Rehabilitation room that I couldn\u2019t stop thinking about,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter watching my own father struggle through desperately needed physical and cognitive rehabilitation a year ago, I found myself wondering how different his journey\u2014and perhaps even his outcome\u2014might have been if he had been treated in a place like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A delegation of guests attending the JNS International Policy Summit visits Sheba Medical Center, June 24, 2026. Credit: Sheba Medical Center.<\/p>\n

Rehabilitation through innovation<\/p>\n

The tour concluded at Sheba\u2019s ARC Center for Digital Innovation, where delegates learned how clinicians are transforming frontline medical challenges into new technologies.<\/p>\n

Dr. Karny Ilan, a surgical resident and CEO and co-founder of health-tech startup Feminai, demonstrated a wearable breast cancer screening patch that is expected to enter clinical trials soon. The device uses wearable sensors and artificial intelligence to detect physiological changes associated with breast tissue density and blood flow.ARV<\/p>\n

Delegates praised the innovations they had seen throughout the day and left with a deeper appreciation of Israel\u2019s medical ingenuity and resilience as the country continues recovering from nearly three years of war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(June 28, 2026 \/ JNS) Sixty delegates attending the three-day JNS International Policy Summit on June 21-23 toured…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-514993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}