(IsraelNN.com) The Rambam Hospital in Haifa dedicated this week a new $14 million emergency facility that provides protection from missiles and chemical weapons that Israel believes may be in Hizbullah’s possession. The hospital was one of hundreds of civilian targets that came under fire by the terrorist organization in the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006.

The new emergency room is the first stage of a plan that includes the establishment of a secure underground hospital for 1,730 patients, a children’s hospital and facilities for cancer care and for cardiac treatment, and a tower for clinical research.

Government sources provided one quarter of the construction costs, and private donors and organizations provided the remainder.

The new emergency room complex, when completed, will be more than three times larger than the previous facility, covering three-quarters of an acre with the ability to treat 60 patients simultaneously, according to Rambam Health Care Campus director Prof. Rafi Beyar.