Possible shortage
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Fear of impending medication shortage in hospitals
State hospitals owe NIS 300 million to Sarel, the company that handles medicine and equipment purchasing for them; reasons for nonpayment are unclear, but may be related to Finance Ministry's desire to seek competitors to Sarel.
If a solution is not found, a medicine shortage in Israeli hospitals will begin within the next few days due to the hospitals' enormous debt to the company that purchases the medications for them.
The Sarel company is the medication and medical equipment provider of state hospitals, and it purchases goods for them that in the amount of about a billion shekels.
The current debt of the state hospitals to Sarel is at NIS 300 million, which is for the medicines and equipment purchased in June and July. Although the purchase has been authorized by all the relevant authorities, the consideration has yet to be paid.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
Sarel sent a letter to the hospitals saying that if the payment was not transferred immediately, the company would not be able to continue making purchases, bringing the supply chain to a halt.
Sources in the company suspect that the delay in payment is due to a disagreement within the Ministry of Finance's accountant general's department. The accountant general, Michal Abadi-Boiangiu asked a few months ago to open up the purchase of medications to competition to reduce the brokerage fees, and to that end she insisted on ending Sarel's exemption.
The Ministry of Health opposed this, claiming that the company carries out its business efficiently and satisfactorily and that there was no room for competitors.
Sarel claimed that following the disagreement, the Ministry of Finance decided to withhold the funds. "One cannot help but get the impression that there's an improper pattern here intended to damage the robustness of our company and our ability to pay the suppliers," they said.
The Finance Ministry, for its part, denied the allegations of differing opinions being related to the delay in payment, which is the responsibility of the Health Ministry. Those in the healthcare system said that the delay in payment is part of the struggle of the accountant general against Sarel, "and in her opinion, all means, even the illegitimate ones, are fair game."
Either way, the fear is that the dispute will lead to a shortage in medications in hospitals in the coming days. "It's a dramatic crisis that we must find a solution for," warned Dr. Hezi Levi, the director of Ashkelon's Barzilai Medical Center and the chairman of the finance administrative forum of state hospitals. "Hospitals will not be able to run themselves and provide the required services if there will be a cessation in the supply of m edications and equipment."
The Ministry of Finance replied, "The attempt to connect the accountant general department to the matter is another vile attempt by the Sarel CEO to discredit the accountant general department. The issue is being handled by the director general of the ministry of health. The accountant general department will assist the ministry with anything as requested."
