Deputy Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman said on Sunday, "I will continue to do everything I can to make the [Assouta] hospital in Ashdod expand, grow and prosper, as those who will benefit are the residents of Ashdod and the vicinity, but without a doubt the health system in Israel as well."
His remarks came at the end of a tour of the facility and a working meeting was held where the short and long term hospital programs were presented. The data presented shows that hospital activity is exceeding the original expectation. For example the number of births occurring in the hospital exceeds 6,000 per year, while the expectation was only 3,000. Assouta Medical Center chairman Shuki Shemer noted, "Every day, it becomes clear that human lives, the lives of many residents, have been saved only because of the geographical proximity of the hospital and its speed, and that if they were evacuated to a more remote hospital, they would not survive."