Photo: Almog, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Which hospital, which ER for children, and how to find a pharmacy at midnight or on Shabbat. The essentials for residents and visitors.
Short answer: Jerusalem has three main general hospitals with emergency rooms for adults and children: Shaare Zedek in the west of the city, Hadassah Ein Kerem at the western edge, and Hadassah Mount Scopus in the north-east. For anything that is not an emergency, an urgent-care centre such as Terem is faster and cheaper. In an emergency call 101. At night and on Shabbat, a rota of duty pharmacies stays open; the municipality's website, the 106 hotline and your health fund's app tell you which. Seeing a doctor in Jerusalem explains which door to use.
The main hospitals
- Shaare Zedek Medical Center. A large teaching hospital in the west of the city, near Bayit Vegan and Givat Shaul, with the busiest emergency department in Jerusalem, a children's emergency department and one of the country's busiest maternity services.
- Hadassah Ein Kerem. A large academic hospital at the city's western edge, at the end of the Red Line, with emergency departments for adults and children and many specialist services.
- Hadassah Mount Scopus. The north-eastern campus, next to the Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus and French Hill, with an adult and a children's emergency department. The Green Line is due to reach it in 2027.
- East Jerusalem hospitals. Augusta Victoria, Makassed and St Joseph serve mainly the city's Arab residents and patients referred from further afield.
Specialist and rehabilitation care
- Herzog Medical Center in Givat Shaul: geriatrics, psychiatry and rehabilitation.
- ALYN Hospital in Kiryat Yovel: paediatric rehabilitation.
- Terem urgent-care centres around the city: stitches, fractures, fevers and infections, day and night, with X-ray and labs. Your health fund covers most of a visit with a referral or small co-payment.
English-speaking doctors are common in all of them. Private clinics, dentists and therapists are in our doctors directory.
Children
Shaare Zedek, Hadassah Ein Kerem and Hadassah Mount Scopus all have children's emergency departments. For a feverish child at night, Terem's paediatric rooms or your fund's after-hours centre are usually quicker. Save the fund's 24-hour nurse line in your phone.
Visitors and tourists
- Without an Israeli health fund you pay in full, so bring your travel insurance details and passport; the insurer's hotline can direct you to a clinic or hospital that bills them directly.
- Terem and private clinics see tourists for non-emergencies and are much cheaper than an ER.
- In an emergency, call 101 for Magen David Adom. Treatment comes first; paperwork later.
Pharmacies at night and on Shabbat
- The duty rota. Pharmacies take turns to open late and on Shabbat and chagim. The Jerusalem Municipality publishes the duty pharmacies on its website, the 106 hotline gives them by phone, and health fund apps show them too.
- Late openings. Some Super-Pharm branches, especially in malls and the centre, open until late on weekdays and again after Shabbat on Saturday night.
- Prescriptions. Israeli prescriptions are digital and appear at any pharmacy of your fund or its partner chains on your ID number. Visitors pay in full; bring a letter or the packaging of any regular medicine.
Numbers to save
- 101 Magen David Adom (ambulance). 100 police. 102 fire.
- 106 Jerusalem Municipality hotline, including duty pharmacies.
- Your health fund's nurse line (in the app), and your travel insurer's emergency line if you are visiting.
Common questions
What are the main hospitals in Jerusalem?
Shaare Zedek, Hadassah Ein Kerem and Hadassah Mount Scopus are the main general hospitals, all with adult and children's emergency departments.
Which is the biggest hospital in Jerusalem?
Hadassah Ein Kerem and Shaare Zedek are both very large; Shaare Zedek has the busiest emergency department in the city.
How do I find a pharmacy open on Shabbat in Jerusalem?
Check the Jerusalem Municipality's duty-pharmacy list, call 106, or look in your health fund's app. Pharmacies take turns.
Do tourists have to pay at Israeli hospitals?
Yes, unless covered by travel insurance. Urgent-care centres are a far cheaper option for anything that isn't an emergency.
Hebrew you will meet
- בית חולים — beit cholim — hospital
- חדר מיון — cheder miyun — emergency room
- מיון ילדים — miyun yeladim — children's ER
- בית מרקחת — beit mirkachat — pharmacy
- בית מרקחת תורן — beit mirkachat toran — duty pharmacy
- מרשם — mirsham — prescription
More everyday words are in our Hebrew vocabulary guide.
Know of a change to a hospital service or a late-night pharmacy? Tell us and we will fix it.
