Health funds, doctors and urgent care in RBS

Healthcare in Israel runs through your kupat cholim (health fund). In Beit Shemesh all four are present, but there's no hospital in town, so it helps to know your options before you need them.

The four kupot

Clalit, Maccabi, Meuhedet and Leumit all operate in Beit Shemesh (NBN (opens in a new tab)). The directory lists their RBS branches, pharmacies and specialist centres: browse health funds.

Signing up and switching as a new oleh

• Olim are signed up to a kupah at the airport. You then finalise at the local branch 5-7 days later, bringing the registration form and your Teudat Oleh (NBN (opens in a new tab)).
• You can switch that first kupah within 14 days of aliyah, at the post office (NBN Aliyahpedia (opens in a new tab)).
• When choosing, distance to your nearest branch is a legitimate factor, and so is which fund covers the medication you take regularly (NBN Aliyahpedia (opens in a new tab)).

Hospitals

Beit Shemesh has no hospital. The nearest are Hadassah, Shaare Zedek and Herzog, all in Jerusalem (NBN (opens in a new tab)).

Hadassah runs a specialist clinic centre at Kanyon Naimi in Beit Shemesh. It has no emergency room (Hadassah (opens in a new tab)). See the listing.

Urgent care on weekdays

Terem has an urgent-care centre at the BIG Center, 1 Yigal Alon, 5th floor, with X-ray and lab tests on site. Its hours on terem.com differ from a 2025 community report, so call 1-599-520-520 before you go (Terem (opens in a new tab)). See the listing.

Friday night and Shabbat

Ezrat Achim runs weekend and Shabbat clinics in RBS together with Terem. In April 2025 the list was RBS A (6 Nachal Tzeelim), RBS B (Lev HaRama) and RBS D3 (69 HaAmoraim), open Friday 18:00-midnight and Shabbat 10:00-16:00 (ShemeshPhone, Apr 2025 (opens in a new tab)). Locations and hours change, so confirm with Ezrat Achim on 1-800-999-000. See the listing.

For an emergency, call MDA on 101 or Hatzalah Beit Shemesh on 02-999-9992 (municipality (opens in a new tab); community information (opens in a new tab)).

Medical equipment

Yad Sarah Beit Shemesh lends medical equipment for free (Yad Sarah (opens in a new tab)). See the listing.

Finding an English-speaking doctor

I couldn't find an individual GP or paediatrician in RBS whose own website states that they speak English, so I haven't listed any. The best route is to ask your kupah's English-language service, or ask on ShemeshList or RBS1. If you're a doctor who should be listed, the "Add a listing" button at the top of the site reaches me.