The Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT) today announced Thursday that it has been given a 9-million-dollar grant from the Leona M. & Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for the construction of the Faculty of Life and Health Sciences building.
"The grant represents one of the Trust's largest-ever gifts to an Israeli institution," the college said in a statement.
JCT's Faculty of Life and Health Sciences includes one of the largest nursing programs in Israel, serving more than 1,000 students annually, the college said.
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"We are pleased to help JCT start construction of its new Tal Campus for Women," Sandor Frankel, one of Helmsley's Trustees, said following the announcement. "This new facility will expand JCT's excellent nursing degree programs, allow it to grow its student body, and help to alleviate the unfortunate shortage of nurses in Israel. We are committed to supporting quality healthcare in Israel, and enabling JCT to graduate more highly-trained nurses and other medical personnel will be a win for the country."
With 5.1 nurses per 1,000 citizens, Israel is close to the bottom of the 37 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations.
"Tonight we celebrate Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day), which commemorates the reunification of the city and the progress we have made in making Jerusalem a religious, cultural and business powerhouse," Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion said.
Helmsley's gift will go toward erecting a four-story, 60,000-square-foot building equipped with advanced medical simulation training labs, lecture halls, classrooms, faculty offices, and a library for the Faculty of Life and Health Sciences.
Upon the building's completion, the building and the faculty will be named the Leona M. & Harry B. Helmsley Faculty of Life and Health Sciences.
"We are profoundly grateful to the Helmsley Trust for their generous gift to our nursing department and to our new Tal Campus for Women," JCT President Prof. Chaim Sukenik said. "The Coronavirus pandemic has reminded us all of the critical importance of nursing and medical infrastructure. This gift will provide the country with thousands of highly-skilled medical personnel for decades to come."
