Accelerating Health-Tech with Assuta Ashdod Hospital

Health technology has made huge strides in the last few years, but there’s still a long way to go, as underlined by successive large-scale health crises like COVID-19. Our community relations approach emphasizes collaborations in our local communities, and in the field of health care we have generally donated money and equipment in the communities in which we operate. To achieve greater impact in the advancement of health-tech, we decided to combine this with our overall company focus on innovation and thinking out-of-the-box. And together with Assuta Ashdod University Hospital in Israel we recently launched an innovative startup accelerator program.

The ADAMA Health-Tech accelerator aims to encourage the development of creative health tech solutions, with the first 10-week cycle focusing on innovating new medical products or services, and on improving organizational processes within hospitals.

The entrepreneurs will enjoy expert training and guidance from mentors from the worlds of health and technology, as well as from experienced ADAMA employees who will help participants master crucial aspects of running a business, such as building a business model, marketing strategies, pitching to investors, and the process of raising funds.

The 12 projects in the first cohort were all submitted by Assuta hospital personnel, including doctors, nurses, maintenance, and administrative employees, and most aim to resolve common medical challenges. For example:

• Speed early detection and diagnosis of viruses such as COVID-19 by replacing inaccurate methods like temperature checks with more effective options that can spot virus carriers earlier. This startup is led by Dr. Ziv Sevilya, director of the Research and Development Laboratory in Assuta Ashdod
• Smartphone app to electrically stimulate muscles, to help cerebral palsy and other spastic disorders. Led by Dr. Shani Kesari, Department of Emergency Medicine at Assuta Ashdod, and Eleanor Eytam of the Industrial Engineering and Management Department at the Shamoon College of Engineering, also in Ashdod.

"The partnership between ADAMA, which is at the forefront of technology in crop protection solutions, and encourages a culture of creative development and out-the-box thinking, and Assuta Ashdod Hospital, which is seeking to establish itself as a center of innovation, is a natural one", says Zvi Manor, VP Israel Operations at ADAMA, "ADAMA has a strong connection with Ashdod and has run many projects to improve the communities around its Ashdod site".

The whole program is under the management of Dr. Joseph Rosenblum, Chief Medical Officer at eHealth Ventures and an expert in the intersection of medicine and technology.

Dr. Erez Barenboim, Director of Assuta Ashdod Hospital commented: “This collaboration with ADAMA and eHealth Ventures is an important step in developing entrepreneurship as an integral