Ruth Gassner is director of the Jack & Ina Kay Hospice.  Born in 1953, she is a graduate of the Hadassah-Hebrew University School of Nursing, she has an MA in Nursing from Tel Aviv University and is a former head nurse of Pediatric Oncology at Hadassah.

One of very few founding hospice directors worldwide still to be in the job 18 years later, she says:  “I love coming to work.  We have a very special relationship with our patients.  Whether they’re with us for weeks or only days, the relationship is fierce and intense, both with them and usually with their families, too.   As for my colleagues - they’ve become my family, almost as dear as my husband and three children.  We’ve added to our team over the years, but only very few have left it.  In fact, we joke that we’ve produced an entire generation during our time here.  Most of us were in our early 30s when the hospice opened, and have taken time off over the years to have babies.  I myself have had two.  But we all come back.”