Dr. Michal Maimon – Director of the Pediatric Emergency Department and Director of Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect Team, Saban Pediatric Medical Center

”As a physician, my vision is to provide professional and humane care to all of my patients while being attentive to every family’s unique characteristics,” says Dr. Michal Maimon, a pediatrician and head of the pediatric emergency department and the Suspected Child Abuse & Neglect Team at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva. Dr. Maimon, a graduate of the medical school at Ben Gurion University, has spent her entire medical career at Soroka, apart from a fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

Dr. Maimon has introduced several innovations to the pediatric emergency department, including sedation, bedside use of ultrasound, and treatment of pediatric trauma by a team of pediatricians. She has received training in treating child abuse and sexual assault and established a hospital service for examining children who have been victims of sexual assault. Previously, children in southern Israel requiring this treatment needed to be transferred to hospitals in the country’s center.

Soroka Medical Center is a tertiary medical center that provides advanced medical services for Negev residents. “One of the challenges we face in the Negev,” says Dr. Maimon, “is providing quality care for children – even for those who may be living in conditions different than what is usually found in the Western world. For example, a child with diabetes may live in an area without electricity and needs insulin that must be refrigerated“.Dr. Maimon recalls that when the pandemic arrived in Israel, there was a great deal of concern among staff, but she says, “Thanks to the mutual support and partnership we overcame the difficulties, and today we are standing tall against the challenges of corona.”

International Women Day, says Dr. Maimon, is an opportunity to highlight women’s achievements and show girls and young women that they don’t have to choose between their careers or self-fulfillment and between being an involved and loving mother – they can have both.