Let The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) leadership know that TOH partnership with Israel’s largest state hospital, Sheba Medical Center, constitutes complicity in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.

We have witnessed over 18 months of Israel’s direct and targeted attacks on Gaza’s hospitals, and the healthcare workers, patients, and displaced people seeking refuge within them. Human rights groups, the United Nations, and the International Court of Justice have all raised alarms about the ongoing genocide. Healthcare workers in Gaza have called for solidarity from medical institutions worldwide. On May 5th, 2025, Israel announced its plan to complete the ethnic cleansing of Gaza through increased military aggression, permanent military occupation, and mass expulsion of Palestinians.

Since 2018, The Ottawa Hospital has been in partnership with Israel’s largest state hospital, Sheba Medical Center. This affiliation demonstrates the deeply entrenched relationship between TOH and Israel. TOH was the first hospital in the world to adopt Sheba’s ARC (Accelerate, Redesign, Collaborate) model, and remains one of relatively few institutions to have done so worldwide. An article published by TOH, titled “What could The Ottawa Hospital learn from Israel?”, suggests that the partnership will “significantly enhance our ‘made-in-Canada’ efforts to achieve higher quality at lower cost in support of a healthier population.” This claim does not take into account the human cost of such a partnership.

Sheba Medical Center is an Israeli government institution and is directly involved with the Israeli military.   It is the primary site of training for IDF medical personnel and treatment for injured soldiers. According to the hospital’s website, “a growing number of Sheba doctors have been recruited into the IDF in order to bolster the military’s medical prowess”. This is especially concerning due to multiple reports of physicians in Israeli state prisons participating in the neglect and even torture of detained Palestinians, many of whom have not been charged with any crime. In addition to its direct ties to the IDF, Sheba also has technology agreements with Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest military contractor. Elbit Systems produces many of the weapons used in attacks on Gaza — including hundreds of devastating attacks on hospitals and healthcare infrastructure.

The Ottawa Hospital serves over 1.2 million people, including residents of Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec, and Nunavut, as well as those who require emergency medical care while visiting from abroad, and those who travel to Ottawa to receive specialized treatment. As a highly trusted Canadian healthcare institution, TOH has an ethical responsibility to make decisions that reflect the values of the diverse communities it serves. We cannot remain silent as TOH proudly affiliates itself with an Israeli state institution that is actively supporting ethnic cleansing and genocide. Therefore, in solidarity with the people of Palestine, we must demand that The Ottawa Hospital end its partnership with Sheba Medical Center.