_a.jpg "צילום: ירון ברנר")
Health officials' meeting
Photo: Yaron Brener
Hospital directors demand health minister
Senior health establishment officials hold urgent meeting following Prime Minister Netanyahu's failure to appoint full-time minister. 'This is criminal negligence,' says Meir Hospital director
Senior health establishment officials met Friday morning for an urgent meeting in order to discuss Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
failure to appoint a health minister.
Prof. Yaakov Hart, chairman of the Hospital Directors Union, said during the meeting, "I call on Netanyahu to appoint a full-time health minister immediately. The system is in a terrible distress. All hospitals are in need of funds."
The meeting, which was held in the city of Ramat Gan, was attended by hospital directors, the chairperson of the Nurses Union in the Histadrut labor federation, and chairpersons of professional hospital unions.
Politics
Meital Yasur-Beit Or
Government office with third largest budget to be headed by UTJ member in capacity of deputy minister; 'personally I'm offended, both as an Israeli citizen and a public official,' senior Health Ministry figure says
Dr. Asher Elhayani, director of the Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba, said that "the Treasury has taken control of our health in the past 10 years. We need a strong minister who will return the health budget to the health system. It sounds like criminal negligence not appointing a health minister."
_wa.jpg)
'Netanyahu responsible for situation' (Photo: Yaron Brener)
Dr. Yitzhak Berlovitz, director of the Edith Wolfson Medical Center, said before the meeting, "The fact that there is no minister shows that the Israeli government apparently views the health system as unimportant.
"If this is solved in the coming days the damage will be minimal, but if not, we may face irreversible damage. These days we are preparing for the 2009-2010 budget, and the lack of a health minister in the budget discussions may damage the resources."
'We won’t accept this situation'
The Israeli Medical Association (IMA) plans to petition the High Court of justice against the decision not to appoint a health minister. IMA chairman Dr. Yoram Blachar announced that the health establishment and doctors would not accept a reality in which the system become marginal and insignificant.
"The failure to appoint a minister and appoint a deputy minister instead automatically makes the selected official disabled in terms of his functionality," he said.
Dr. Blashar also demanded that Netanyahu "stop playing with human life while showing contempt to one of the most important ministries. The prime minister is fully and directly responsible for the situation created."
According to the coalition agreements, the Health portfolio was given to the United Torah Judaism party, which is meant to man it with a deputy minister "with the status of a minister." Following a stormy discussion Wednesday, the UTJ faction decided to give the job to Knesset Member Menachem Eliezer Mozes.
However, sources close to Mozes said Thursday that the matter had not been finalized yet, and that Mozes had suggested that faction chairman MK Yakov Litzman accept the position. Liztman, who lost the position of chairman of the Knesset's Finance Minister to MK Moshe Gafni, turned down the offer.
Meanwhile, it is also possible that one of the Likud's ministers-without-portfolio will be eventually appointed health minister. One of the candidates, Minister Yossi Peled, said he had not been approached on the matter, but implied that he would not turn down the offer.
Amnon Meranda contributed to this report
