(For Immediate Release – Philadelphia, PA – January 27, 2020) – Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (PICC) is honored and pleased to recognize Holy Family Senior Living, Inc. (HFSL) of Bethlehem, PA (Previously Catholic Senior Housing and Health Care Services, Inc) with the 2020 Yitzhak Rabin Award. This award is named after the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was a Nobel Laureate for Peace. It is presented to companies and individuals who show outstanding leadership and vision strengthening the commercial, research and investment ties between Israel and our region.
“Holy Family Senior Living, Inc. has strengthened the commercial and innovation ties between Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, and Israel through its co-development and successful pilot of the patient monitoring device SafeBeing, developed by Israeli startup Somatix Inc. This joint venture was funded by the U.S.-Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation and facilitated by the Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce. It will revolutionize care of residents in senior living communities across the globe.” said Matt Fingerman, President of Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce.
 Holy Family Senior Housing, Inc. and Somatix’ leadership hosted BIRD Foundation representatives for a presentation of the successful SafeBeing technology pilot improving monitoring of residents mobility in senior living communities. The BIRD Foundation granted the partners $900,000 to pilot the technology and bring it to market with the opportunity for a significant global impact. (R-L) Andrea Yonah, US East-Coast and Mid-West Director of BIRD Foundation; Joseph Shadid RN, MSN, MBA, NHA, PCA, Chief Executive Officer, Holy Family Senior Living, Inc.; Shannon McDonough, Assistant Director of Nursing, HFSL; Eran Ofir, CEO and Co-Founder, Somatix; Vered Nohi, Executive Director, Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce and Representative in PA, DE and southern NJ, BIRD Foundation; and David Futoran, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Somatix. |
 During his January 2020 mission to Israel, Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Wolf thanked Eitan Yudilevich, Executive Director of the BIRD Foundation, for funding two grants of nearly $1 million each to PA companies in 2019, and congratulated Uri Schatzberg, Co-Founder and CTO of Israeli company Somatix for a successful BIRD Foundation project with Holy Family Senior Living, Inc. of Bethlehem, PA, testing the SafeBeing technology. (R-L) Israel Ambassador Dani Dayan, and Consul General to NYC; Eitan Yudilevich, PhD, Executive Director, BIRD Foundation;Vered Nohi, Executive Director, Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce and Representative in PA, DE and southern NJ, BIRD Foundation; Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Wolf; and Uri Schatzberg, Co-Founder and CTO, Somatix. |
SafeBeing is used in HFSL’ 20-acre campus to better observe patients’ wellness across four distinct levels of senior living settings, including independent living, personal care, short term rehabilitation and long term skilled care. SafeBeing is the first product of its kind that allows caregivers to continuously monitor, track and analyze seniors’ daily routines in real-time using a wearable smartband and mobile app. The device’s Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) system utilizes proprietary gesture detection technology, machine learning, and advanced analytics to detect hand movements and other activities and events such as walking, sleeping, drinking, medication-intake, falling or wandering. By monitoring these activities, caregivers can detect variations in gestures that may be cause for concern, and further trigger reminders to users and alerts to caregivers and family members.
“We congratulate HFSL for receiving the 2020 Yitzhak Rabin Award and for their fruitful partnership with Somatix developing and validating a much-needed solution for a growing elderly population and their caregivers,” said Eitan Yudilevich, PhD, Executive Director, BIRD Foundation. “This project exemplifies BIRD‘s mission of fostering innovation by supporting collaborations between U.S. and Israeli companies and we wish both partners much success going forward.”
The 2020 Yitzhak Rabin Award will be presented to Holy Family Senior Living, Inc. (HFSL) of Bethlehem, PA at the PICC Annual Gala Reception on May 4 at the Crystal Tea Room in Philadelphia.
About the PICC:
The PICC is an independent non-profit, membership based, that connects Israeli and Greater Philadelphia, Southern New Jersey and Delaware companies and academic institutions for joint ventures growing the Israeli and US economic and friendship ties. Since the Israeli consulate in Philadelphia was closed, we serve companies as far as Lehigh Valley, PA, Northern NJ, and even Pittsburgh and Erie.
In addition, the PICC represents the BIRD Foundation, a federal and Israel grant giving fund, in PA, Southern NJ and DE. BIRD annually awards 25 grants of up to $1m each to US-Israeli joint innovative and commercialized product or service. In 2019, two grants have been awarded to PA companies and one in Southern NJ.