MARCH 23 • 2023 | 33

service. “This is the heartbeat, 
if you will, of the 911 response 
system in Israel,
” Davidoff 
explains. “We got a behind-the-
scenes look at the integration 
of technology and volunteers 
to reduce response time in 
responding to emergencies.
”

GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS
It was an inspiring, educational 
mission that Davidoff says 
was a two-way experience for 
participants. 
 “They’re serving as 
ambassadors for Michigan in 
Israel,
” he explains, “and those 
who are first-timers come back 
as ambassadors for Israel.
“They truly understand what 
Israel has to offer the world,
” he 
adds.
Laura Grannemann, 
executive director of Rocket 
Community Fund and Gilbert 
Family Foundation, was one of 
the delegation’s 18 participants 
who was also a first-time visitor 
to Israel.
“This trip allowed me to do 
three important things: visit 
Israel for the first time, build 
relationships with incredible 

leaders across the healthcare 
industry and spend dedicated 
time thinking about how to 
collectively build innovation 
into our healthcare system,
” 
Grannemann says.
Because the Gilbert Family 
Foundation invests in two 
primary focus areas — building 
opportunity and equity in 
Detroit, and accelerating a cure 
for neurofibromatosis, a rare 
genetic disorder that causes 
spontaneous tumors to grow 
in the body — finding a cure 
requires innovation at every 
level, Grannemann explains, 
making this delegation a vital 
mission for the cause.
Randy Thelen, president 
and CEO of The Right Place, a 
Grand Rapids-based economic 
development agency, is another 
participant who walked away 
with a new understanding 
of the latest health tech 
innovations, both in Michigan 
and Israel, and what Israel has 
to offer the world.
“Tel Aviv has become one of 
the world’s top 10 tech hubs in 
a very short window of time,
” 
he says. “They have much to 

offer Michigan, both in terms 
of economic policies and ideas, 
as well as companies that want 
to establish their first U.S. 
presence.
”
Known as the “start-up 
nation,
” Israel has proven 
itself to be a world leader in 
innovation. That’s why The 
Right Place, which strives to 
grow the greater Grand Rapids 
tech economy by 20,000 jobs 
over the next 10 years, was 
eager to meet and connect with 
Israeli health tech innovators.
“
As we execute this strategy, 
it’s important for us to continue 
to explore other global tech 
hubs seeking out opportunities 
to partner,
” Thelen says. As for 
the business boom in Tel Aviv, 
he says he “stopped counting 
construction cranes” at 100.
Paul Browne, senior vice 
president and chief information 
officer at Henry Ford Health 
System, says the Israeli spirit 
was visible in every activity 
throughout the mission.
“The entire way the trip was 
structured helped,
” he says. 
“We learned the historical and 
cultural context that really 

drives the spirit of innovation 
we encountered in many ways 
throughout our trip.
”

INSPIRED AND ENERGIZED
Tina Freese Decker, president 
and CEO of Corewell Health, 
says she came back from the 
trip “inspired and energized” 
by what she learned. She saw 
that Israelis were committed to 
the betterment of society, with 
a strong investment in lifelong 
health care that began early on.
“The most important themes 
to me,
” she says, “were the 
determination and resilience 
that everyone I met in Israel, 
even outside health care, 
embodied. In health care, those 
qualities are essential to us as 
caregivers and in ensuring we 
live our mission every day for 
those we serve.
”
Still, the delegation didn’t 
only show participants Israel’s 
latest innovations, but it also 
taught them what Michigan 
could offer to the Israeli state in 
return. “Michigan is home to 
some amazing assets,
” Thelen 
says. “Such as our hospital sys-
tems, our university systems, 
our medical schools and a 
concentration of global compa-
nies that can serve as first U.S. 
customers.
”
Grannemann explains that 
the delegation shared a col-
lective goal of ensuring that 
Michigan is a leader in health-
care innovation. 
“While we have a lot of work 
to do, I am glad to have such 
enthusiastic, intelligent and 
empathetic partners leading the 
way across our state,
” she says.
It may have been the first 
MIBA health tech delegation to 
Israel, but Davidoff says there’s 
already talk of sending more 
delegations in the near future.
“One connection leads to 
another,
” he says. “It’s really geo-
metric in its power.
” 

MICHIGAN ISRAEL BUSINESS ACCELERATOR (MIBA) DELEGATION

Magen David Adom 
National Command and 
Control Center in 
Kiryat Ono

