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For the first time in Israel, the treatment of pediatric kidney and pediatric urinary conditions will be consolidated in a single location. The country’s only Pediatric Nephrology-Urology Center will soon open at the Hadassah Medical Organization, the Jerusalem-based hospital system of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, staffed by a team specializing in treating infants and children with complex congenital or acquired kidney and urinary tract conditions.
The Center’s creation reflects a shift in the medical world from so-called domain-focused treatment to what is known as integrative care, which sees the child as a whole rather than as a collection of separate systems.
The Center will connect two related fields – pediatric nephrology, which deals with the diagnosis and treatment of kidney diseases, and pediatric urology, which focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract diseases and malformations. Combining the two areas reflects a comprehensive clinical vision that seeks to treat complex medical conditions in which the two systems, kidney and urinary functions, influence each other.
In addition to treating a host of pediatric kidney and urinary problems, the Center, which is located in the Charlotte Bloomberg Mother and Child Building on Hadassah’s Ein Kerem campus in Jerusalem, will have a clinic dedicated to treating children with urological problems accompanied by impaired kidney function, and a clinic focused on treating children with urinary tract stones.
A third clinic, which will treat children with urination and sphincter control disorders, will be led by Leonid Boyarsky, MD, Israel’s only physician with this dual expertise.
The idea to create the Pediatric Nephrology-Urology Center grew out the shared vision of the two Hadassah Medical Organization specialists who will be its co-directors, Oded Volovelsky, MD, and Guy Hidas, MD. Dr. Volovelsky heads the hospital system’s Pediatric Nephrology specialty and is President of the Israeli Association for Pediatric Nephrology, while Dr. Hidas heads Pediatric Urology and is president of the Israeli Pediatric Urology Society.
"By creating a single medical address for pediatric nephrology and pediatric urology, the Hadassah Medical Organization will facilitate shared, fully informed decision-making right from the diagnosis stage," said Dr. Hidas. "The new model will reduce the emotional and logistical burden on families and shorten medical processes that previously required complex, time-consuming coordination among many different parties."
“What is unique about the Pediatric Nephrology-Urology Center is not just the natural synergy between the two areas but Hadassah’s broad, multidisciplinary framework for treatment," added Dr. Volovelsky, speaking of the collaboration among colleagues, including Hadassah experts who specialize in treating children with endocrine, oncological, neurological and other issues.
In addition to its staff of expert doctors and nurses, the Center will have a clinical dietitian specializing in renal nutrition, a clinical pharmacist, a psychosocial team and a team responsible for coordinating schooling for children who must remain in the hospital for extended periods.
Said Carol Ann Schwartz, National President of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, which owns the Hadassah Medical Organization, "This is exactly the kind of medicine Hadassah supporters believe in – advanced care, delivered with compassion, that makes a real difference in children’s lives. And I say that as someone whom this affected as a three-year-old child."
The opening of the Hadassah Medical Organization’s Pediatric Nephrology-Urology Center marks a significant step in pediatric medicine in Israel. It sets a new standard in integrative and compassionate care and demonstrates that true medical innovation is not measured solely in advanced technology but also in its practitioners’ ability to build a complete system of care, knowledge and human support around the child.
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Pediatric Nephrology at the Hadassah Medical Organization
Director: Oded Volovelsky, MD
Hadassah’s pediatric nephrologists are experts in treating kidney disease in children, from infancy through adulthood. They provide comprehensive care through all stages of the disease – diagnosis, monitoring, treatment, management of kidney failure, and transplant and transplant follow-up.
Treatment is based on a preventive approach that strives to preserve the kidney function and emphasizes balancing blood pressure, preventing systemic complications and ensuring a child's normal growth and development. Overseeing the care is a multidisciplinary team that includes a dedicated liaison nurse.
In addition to its extensive clinical offerings, the Hadassah Medical Organization is a leading academic center in the study of pediatric nephrology. Dr. Volovelsky completed both a fellowship in the specialty and postdoctoral studies in kidney development at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, one of the world's leading centers in the field. In addition to his work at the Hadassah Medical Organization, he coordinates the MD-PhD program at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School.
Pediatric Urology at the Hadassah Medical Organization
Director: Guy Hidas, MD
Hadassah’s pediatric urologists provide advanced treatment for a wide range of urological problems while being fully sensitive to each child's age and family dynamics. Hadassah’s specialists treat congenital malformations, urinary tract obstructions and bladder diseases, and operate in a multidisciplinary environment with colleagues who are experts in related fields.
Hadassah’s pediatric urologists are acknowledged leaders in Israel in the field of hypospadias, a condition in which the opening of the urethra is on the underside of the penis instead of at the tip, and advanced robotic surgery for children. The surgical team is known for its skill in reducing anxiety in children and parents alike, from diagnosis through recovery.
Like their counterparts in pediatric nephrology, Hadassah’s pediatric urologists work closely with colleagues at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School and maintain professional ties with fellow experts in Israel and around the world.
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About the Hadassah Medical Organization:
For more than a century, the Hadassah Medical Organization, the Jerusalem-based hospital system of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, has set the standard for excellence in medical treatment and research in Israel. The experience and ingenuity of Hadassah’s doctors and scientists have led to new tools and treatments in all areas of medicine, including therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices. Visit hadassah.org/how-we-help/our-hospitals.