Joyce Backman, a resident of Westport and a member of the Connecticut Region of Hadassah, recently returned from a week-long briefing in Israel that focused on current events as well as the women’s Zionist organization’s project growth. The mission came as Hadassah prepared to celebrate the reunification of Jerusalem in the aftermath of the Six-Day War, which included the reclamation of Hadassah’s Mount Scopus hospital campus. Backman is pictured here with Hadassah patient Aaron Schwartz, who was crushed when a ton of steel fell on him in the supply company where he worked, and with Dr. Amal Khoury, one of the two orthopedic surgeons who – in a world first – used two robots that communicated with each other to complete the delicate repair of Schwartz’s shattered spine. Backman also toured the operating theaters where breakthrough technologies are being developed.

Said Backman, “I’m always emotional coming to Hadassah hospital because I am a nurse and it’s amazing to see the beautiful and functional hospital that Hadassah members in the State of Connecticut helped build.”