Chairman of Hadassah's board tried to oust its temporary director-general
Months of labor disputes and problems within the hospital management seemed to be over, until the board chairman attempted to ouster its temporary director-general last week.
Just when things seemed to be back to normal at Hadassah, with work resuming its normal pace, the hospital experienced a new division into two camps – after Chairman of the Board Erez Meltzer initiated proceedings to dismiss temporary Director-General Tamar Peretz.
The step was taken in light of recent progress towards appointing Prof. Ze'ev Rothstein to the post of permanent Director-General, which would lead Prof. Peretz to finish her term as Director-General in the near future.
Although Meltzer maintains a majority which supports the dismissal within the board; in addition to the support he received from the two strongest unions at the hospital – the workers' and doctors' unions – the move also met staunch opposition from the hospital's department directors and both senior and junior doctors. An additional front of opposition to the move originated from the nurses' union. Nitsana Shemesh, the union's head, also presented her case against the move.
Opponents of the move were infuriated, and claimed that it was an "non-democratic and dictatorial act," which according to them, "is a first of its kind in Hadassah's history." Many of them also wondered about the timing of the motion, a short time before the appointment of a permanent director-general, and just when the hospital was beginning to function normally again.
It seems that the person responsible for blocking Meltzer's motion was none other than Health Minister Yaacov Litzman, who clearly stated that he was opposed to any one-sided motion at Hadassah, while reporting on major progress in talks over the appointment of Prof. Rothstein to the position.
Either way, there are those who would say that the biggest beneficiary of the last week's event was the Shaarei Zedek hospital and its director-general, Prof. Jonathan Halevy.
Resignation
The tensions between management and the board reached new heights during the week. "We live in worry," a management official said. "We don’t know who is against whom, and how good friends became enemies."
The deputy to the director-general, accountant Oren Levy, announced his resignation last week. Department head union representative, Prof. Dror Mevorach, rapidly sent out an email decrying the resignation, "Oren, who loyally represented the management, was thoughtful and fair, and as such we were saddened by an additional blow to the management's function."
The doctors' unions planned on convening a meeting and initiating an organized protest against the resignation, but the meeting was put on hold. The board decided to try and convince Levy to return and began negotiating with him to this end. Levy was absent from work this week and chances are that he will return if he is able to reach his terms with the board.
Supporters
Although the controversy reached its peak with Meltzer's attempt to dismiss Peretz from her position, the people who were set to temporarily take her place were Levy, and Prof. Yoram Weiss, who currently serves that the Director of the Ein Karem medical center.
The dismissal had already been planned nearly two weeks ago, when Meltzer convened the board to discuss the matter. He invited the doctors' and nurses' union representatives, who voiced their opinions on the management's functioning, which they termed, "continuous violations of the clarification agreements by Hadassah management." It should be stated that Meltzer did not need the union's support; however, he apparently understood that in order to carry out such an outstanding dismissal, he should have the broadest support from all the most powerful unions.
In answering the question of the supposed urgency of the dismissal, board officials stated that they were unhappy with her performance, and that there was a fear that the hospital would suffer as a result of her continued presence. There are also those who believe that any delay in the appointment of Prof. Rothstein would play into the hands of Prof. Peretz, who has been strengthening her position and gaining experience - thus leading her to assume the role if the appointment fails.
The opposition
Armed with the support of the committees and most of the board of directors, Meltzer intended to convene at the start the week the final discussion on Peretz's ouster and then invite her for a hearing.
But broad opposition to the move was sparked at the end of the week, when the intention to push out Prof. Peretz became known to the hospital. Department heads and senior and junior doctors came out firmly against the decision to remove her.
Many of those opposed to the move could hardly be described as supporters of Prof. Peretz. "Why do we need to expedite her dismissal when Prof. Rothstein is due to be appointed to his role so soon?" one of them asked.
"Why shake the hospital up again and stir unnecessary uproar when Tami has already gone through her role and supposed to be finishing soon?"
The committee of nurses also opposed the ouster and head of the committee, Nitsana Shemesh, expressed her satisfaction with Prof. Peretz's performance in her role. "She tried and succeeded not to harm the nursing department and was attentive to us," Shemesh said.
"She guaranteed us our wages and took care of everything she needed to – in my opinion she was not given enough of a chance," Shemesh continued. Members of the directorate expressed similar views.
Shemesh said that although the committee had not conducted any internal discussions on the matter, 1,800 nurses in the hospital were satisfied with Prof. Peretz's performance. "We don't do surveys on everything. Overall the nurses are very satisfied, they have financial security, they get their paycheck at the beginning of every month, no nurses have been fired and no cuts have been made," she added.
But complete opposition to the attempt to remove Prof. Peretz finally came, as mentioned, from Minister of Health Litzman.
According to his associates, Litzman is opposed to unilateral processes. They also emphasized that he expects the appointment of Prof. Rothstein to be sped up and that until then, for the current management situation at the hospital to remain as is.
With that, a declaration was already issued to Litzman earlier this week notifying him that he will very soon be informed of Rothstein's appointment to manager of Hadassah.
And Professor Rothstein?
After a long period during which the subject of Prof. Rothstein's appointment was delayed, meaningful developments finally started this week.
On Wednesday, Rothstein signed an agreement with Hadassah and will begin his employment at the hospital in January. Prof. Peretz will vacate her role at the same time.
In response to the situation, Prof. Peretz said: "These are claims we have heard time and again during the last year and a half, during which I have been serving as the acting CEO of Hadassah.
"In the last year and a half Hadassah has, under my direction, reached a balanced budget and a balance in activities, thanks to an overall increase in operations, a reduction in expenditures and a deal with the Clalit health fund," Prof. Peretz continued.
"We have recorded an increase across all parameters – an increase in the number of births and increased occupancy in emergency rooms, surgery and clinics. I led a process that reduced the budget deficit by nearly half.
"Hadassah is a center of medicine, academia and research – we nurture in each one of these fields," Prof. Peretz continued. "We restored the Hadassah brand: this year we hired more than 100 interns from a long waiting list.
"We rehabilitated our study designs, so that more than 50 percent of ISF-awarded research grants came to us. We are establishing, upgrading and renovating our clinical programs. Next January we will move to the newest and most sophisticated operating theaters in Israel.
"You cannot dispute the facts. Until it is decided otherwise, my role here will be to continue managing the Hadassah medical center responsibly and professionally and to stand by the objectives of the recovery plan," Prof. Peretz added. "This is exactly how I intend to proceed."
The Ministry of Finance announced this week that they had not received any request or update regarding a change in management at the hospital. Additionally, a detailed plan for the appointment of Prof. Rothstein had not been brought to them for examination.
"The wage division of the Ministry of Finance will discuss the topic once it has received the request from Hadassah Hospital," the ministry said.
"In any event, the terms of the salary will be arranged according to public sector standards, in line with what other hospital managers receive."
Chairman of the board Meltzer declined to respond.
