PADEH, BARUCH

PADEH, BARUCH (1908–2001), Israeli physician. Born in Belorussia, he studied medicine in Prague and graduated in   1927. Padeh immigrated to Palestine, worked as a physician in the kibbutzim of the Jordan Valley, and settled in Degania B. In 1936 he also became regional commander of the haganah . In 1938, he went to New York to study hematology and, upon his return in 1940, he resumed his work as a regional physician. In 1947–48 he served as the regional physician of the Southern Front. In 1949 he moved to Tel Hashomer hospital where he became deputy director in 1955. In 1956 he was appointed chief medical officer of the IDF, and in 1971 he became director general of the Ministry of Health. In 1974, he went back to the north of Israel and was director of Poriah hospital. Later he became a family physician in Kaẓrin, in the Golan Heights. Padeh, is remembered as the physician who set the medical standards for the Medical Army Corps as well as the Civil Medical System and Services. He was particularly interested in the development of family practice and community medicine. Padeh was also the founder of the genetic studies of the Israeli population in the 1950s. He received many awards and prizes for his services, and in 1985 he was awarded the Israel Prize in medicine. (Bracha Rager (2nd ed.)