Pictured Above: A Hebrew-language welcome sign for Samaria’s Binyamin region. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

(JNS.org) The One Israel Fund held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for its new Binyamin Medical Center (BMC), the first major medical facility in Samaria.

When construction is finalized, the center will serve more than 75,000 Israelis living in 45 communities in the Binyamin region of Samaria, as well as tens of thousands of nearby Palestinian residents.

The new BMC facility will provide state-of-the-art emergency medical care and encourage coexistence by providing treatment to “residents of the Binyamin region, Palestinian and Israeli alike,” said Rabbi David Marcus, senior development officer of the One Israel Fund. 

Although Binyamin is the largest geographical regional council in Israel, medical services for the area’s residents are said to be insufficient. Binyamin residents in need of medical care must currently travel to Jerusalem to receive treatment—a commute of up to 90 minutes in some cases. 

The BMC aims to “have a transformative impact on the Binyamin region, bringing life-saving medical care and peace of mind to residents who now live with the fear and uncertainty of not knowing whether they will be able to reach a hospital in the event of an emergency,” said Marcus.

“The center will improve the region’s security and quality of life,” he added.

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