Deploying an Emergency Field Hospital Underground

In a world facing threats, from war zones to natural disasters, for the first time in Israel’s medical history, Sheba Medical Center has merged battlefield medicine with hospital-grade infrastructure by building an emergency field hospital completely underground. Amid the escalating conflict and missile attacks targeting central Israel, Sheba activated its Humanitarian & Disaster Response Center (HDRC) and deployed a fully equipped 100-bed field hospital, not in tents, not in makeshift shelters, but in a protected underground area within days to deliver world-class care.

Field Hospital Meets Civilian Readiness

Born in 2017, Sheba’s Humanitarian & Disaster Response Center (HDRC) was designed for rapid global deployment and tested in the most extreme of conditions around the world. Our teams provided assistance in Mozambique following the Cyclone Idai, aid in Haiti after a deadly earthquake, and most recently, they established the Shining Star field hospital in Ukraine that treated over 6,000 patients in only 6-weeks. But now in Operation Rising Lion, we’re making history by using this mobile infrastructure internally, integrating our own experience on our own campus, and in our own national emergency. 

Instead of transferring patients between buildings or exposing staff to risk, the underground facility provides:

• Privacy: Unlike traditional field hospitals or bunkered wards, this new hybrid model allows patients to remain in discrete treatment areas with full medical support.
• Protection: Staff operate within a missile-safe structure, maintaining continuity of care without disruption or relocation.
• Precision: The hospital’s full diagnostic, surgical, and life-support infrastructure is connected to Sheba’s internal systems, ensuring quality care on par with above-ground departments.

A Blueprint for Global Emergency Medicine

This deployment marks a paradigm shift in how countries can prepare for hostile circumstances, natural disasters, or mass casualty scenarios. In most hospitals, underground space is reserved for parking or storage, but Sheba has proved that these common, everyday areas can be transformed into life-saving zones. 

So far, Sheba has treated over 294 patients since the start of the conflict, 13 remain hospitalized, with 2 under emergency care, more than 700 protected spaces in use, 17 departments transferred underground, and 95% of staff on-site. 

As global tensions rise and climate events intensify, the ability to quickly convert existing infrastructure into secure, high-capacity medical zones should no longer be optional. Sheba’s model shows how repurposed underground space, when combined with field-tested equipment and trained personnel, creates an unparalleled emergency readiness solution.

 From Ukraine, to Israel, and to the Rest of the World

The same equipment that treated victims of the war in Ukraine is now operating and saving lives under fire in Israel. This isn’t just logistics, it’s foresight in action. The HDRC team didn’t just build a field hospital, they built a system that can transition between a global and local response instantly, even during the most tumultuous of times. Sheba proves that lifesaving care can be provided anytime and anywhere it is needed.