Hollywood blue bloods mixed with UCLA medicine in Beverly Hills
on Thursday night at an awards benefit for the largest hospital in
the Middle East.
Gerald Levey, dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at
UCLA, was honored as the first-ever recipient of the Sheba Medical
Visionary Award. Film director William Friedkin received the Sheba
Humanitarian Award.
The event, held at the Beverly Hilton, drew famous figures
including entertainment notables like actor Sidney Poitier and
director Arthur Hiller, as well as moon-landing astronaut Buzz
Aldrin. UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale also attended to see Levey
receive his award.
“It’s terrific. It’s well deserved and a
wonderful cause,” Carnesale said.
The dinner ceremony was organized by the Friends of Sheba, a
charitable organization that raises money for the Chaim Sheba
Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Israel. Originally operated by the
British Army, the hospital was turned over to Israel after the
country became a state in 1948.
The 150-acre center is the largest medical complex in the Middle
East, and, among other endeavors, works with the Israel Defense
Forces to train doctors and nurses to treat victims of chemical and
biological attacks.
At the dinner, the Friends of Sheba auctioned off vacations,
sports memorabilia and artwork by artists like Henri Matisse and
Salvador Dali to raise money for the hospital’s training
program and oncology institute.
“We hope tonight to clear a half million dollars for the
hospital,” said Marjorie Pressman, adviser to the
Friend’s Board of Directors.
Under Levey, a specialist in endocrinology and internal
medicine, the UCLA Medical Center has been ranked among the
country’s top five hospitals and received a $200 million
donation last year from entertainment mogul David Geffen. The
donation was the largest private endowment in the history of the
University of California.
Carnesale said Levey guided the UCLA medical school to
preeminence and raised $1.3 billion for UCLA’s medical
programs.
Levey said he was initially reluctant to accept the award but
decided to accept because of the Friends of Sheba’s efforts
to help Israel cope with the medical costs of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The hospitals in Israel have been under a great deal of
strain with all the civilian casualties during the war,” he
said.
Friedkin, whose films include “The French
Connection” and “The Exorcist,” said he admired
how in the midst of conflict, the Chaim Sheba Medical Center does
not discriminate between the groups.
“I just think it’s a wonderful organization … how
could you refuse an organization that treats (both) Arabs and
Jews?”