For Immediate Release
Tuesday, July 25, 2000   
Contact: Channell Barbour  (502) 564-2611 

First Lady Tours Jewish Children Hospital in Israel

FRANKFORT, KY. -  First Lady Judi Patton visited the Hadassah Hospital at Ein Karem, in Jerusalem, while on a trade mission to Israel with Governor Paul Patton. 

Mrs. Patton talked with the mothers and played with some of the children at the Mother and Child Center.  The hospital opened 2 –1/2 years ago, and has welcomed such visitors as Hillary Rodham Clinton. 

Due to Mrs. Patton’s strong commitment in working with children, she chose to visit the center that serves Arabic, Christian, and Jewish children from the Middle East, side by side.  “The Mother and Child Center serves various children in the Middle East and watching these mothers assist each other in taking care of their children shows that we all can get along when we put our differences aside,” said Mrs. Patton.

The twelve Chagall windows are located in the hospital, representing the 12 tribes in Israel, and demonstrating peace amongst the different groups.  

The hospital is unique to Kentucky because it serves as a sister hospital to the Albert B. Chandler, University of Kentucky Medical Center.  In addition, 900 National Board of Hadassah members in Louisville support the hospital, and 275 members in Lexington give donations to the center.   

The center also serves as a research institution that studies gene therapy, genes that cause particular diseases.

During the rest of the Israel visit, the First Lady and the Governor participated in a wreath laying ceremony at Yad Vashem, the Jewish national memorial in honor of the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust.

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