Health funds and doctors in Ashdod: kupot, after-hours care and doctors who speak your language

Until 2017, Ashdod residents had to go to Kaplan in Rehovot or Barzilai in Ashkelon for hospital care (Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)). Today the city has its own hospital, all four health funds (kupot holim), two urgent-care chains and pharmacies open on Shabbat. Here is what I'd want to know in my first month.

The four health funds and their main addresses

The municipality lists one main address for each fund (Ashdod Municipality (opens in a new tab)):

• Clalit: 20 David HaMelech St, 08-8644445, call centre 1900-72-1144.
• Leumit: 22 Ahad HaAm St, 08-8687500, *507.
• Maccabi: 12 HaShayatim St, 08-8549549, *3555 (24 hours).
• Meuhedet: 8 Keren HaYesod St, 08-8549777, *3833.

Which fund to choose is a personal decision. I'd look at which one has a clinic in your quarter and doctors who speak your language. If you want to switch later, Bituach Leumi lists "transfer between health funds" among its online services (Bituach Leumi (opens in a new tab)).

Maccabi centres by quarter

Maccabi's service guide lists 8 medical centres in Ashdod, named after their quarters (Maccabi (opens in a new tab)):

• Gimel: 20 HaPalmach
• Dalet: 12 HaShayatim
• Vav: 29 Gur Dov
• Zayin: 15 Rashbi (also open on Saturday evening)
• Chet: 29 HaRotem
• Yud-Alef: 7 Kinneret
• Yud-Zayin: 2 Shoham
• Mar'ar: 4 Uzi Hitman

For Clalit, the directory has the specialist centre and clinics in Rova Alef, Rova Gimel and Rova Dalet. You can browse them all under health funds. I did not check Leumit's and Meuhedet's own websites, so their entries rely on the municipal list.

Finding a doctor who speaks your language

Only Maccabi publishes doctors' languages in a form I could check. Its service guide lists 218 doctor entries in Ashdod: 116 list Russian, 171 English and 10 French (Maccabi (opens in a new tab)). French-speaking Maccabi doctors include family doctors Dr. Jacques Dahan, Dr. Rita Moses and Dr. Roseline Siho, paediatrician Dr. Shmuel Hetman and gynaecologist Prof. Ariel Revel. Maccabi also lists an Amharic-speaking psychotherapist, Mastir Wondimagen-Masala. Russian-speaking doctors are in the doctors directory.

I found no clinic-level language data for the other funds, so ask when you book. The French consulate's list of medical facilities has no Ashdod doctors (checked 5 October 2026) (French consulate (opens in a new tab)). The English spellings of doctors' names are transliterated from Hebrew listings, so search in Hebrew if a name doesn't come up.

Evenings, Shabbat and urgent care

• Terem, 1 Hana Senesh St: open 24/7, including Shabbat (Terem (opens in a new tab)).
• Bikurofe, 18 HaOrgim St: open evenings, Fridays and Shabbat from 09:00; call centre *6101 (Bikurofe (opens in a new tab)).
• Clalit Hillel clinic in Rova Zayin: evening duty service Sunday-Thursday 19:00-22:00 (Clalit (opens in a new tab)).
• Nefesh B'Nefesh notes that Meuhedet also offers urgent care (Nefesh B'Nefesh (opens in a new tab)).

Emergencies and Assuta Ashdod

In an emergency, dial 101 for Magen David Adom. The MDA station is at 1 HaRefua St (Ashdod Municipality (opens in a new tab)). Assuta Ashdod, at 7 HaRefua St (08-3004100; information and appointments *8480), has an adult ER plus children's, women's, ENT, eye and maternity emergency rooms (Assuta Ashdod (opens in a new tab)). It is also on the UK government's list of medical facilities in Israel (GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)).

Pharmacies open late and on Shabbat

The municipality lists three Super-Pharm branches as duty pharmacies, open late and on Shabbat (Ashdod Municipality (opens in a new tab)):

• Super-Pharm City, 1 HaBanim St (077-8880400): until midnight Sunday-Thursday, and open on Shabbat.
• Super-Pharm Star Center, 41 Jabotinsky St: open on Shabbat.
• Super-Pharm BIG Ashdod, 1 Derech Ariel Sharon: open on Shabbat.

I found no rotating duty-pharmacy roster; these three are the standing options. See all pharmacies.

Mental health

Maccabi says urgent cases should see their family doctor for an ER referral; psychiatrists in Ashdod, mostly at 1 Kibbutz Galuyot St, work fixed hours by appointment. Clalit's adult and child mental-health clinics are at 6 Yitzhak Sadeh St (Rova Bet). Leumit's "Tzipor HaNefesh" clinic is at 22 Ahad HaAm St, and Meuhedet's mental-health centre is at 58 HaAtzmaut St (Ashdod Municipality (opens in a new tab)). In an emergency, initial care for anxiety attacks is through the health funds (Ashdod Municipality (opens in a new tab)). For children, see the Shefi service in Schools and gans in Ashdod, and for your first errands, Your first week in Ashdod.