Dr. Yitzhak Berlowitz, former director-general of Wolfson Hospital and a key partner in advancing the National Health Insurance Law, which transformed Israel's health system, passed away last night on his 77th birthday. His funeral will be held tomorrow with only family members in attendance. "It's a shock. Even though he wasn't feeling well, he just collapsed and that's it. We're still not processing it," his widow Miriam said in a conversation with ynet. Berlowitz was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, in 1949, immigrated to Israel in 1958 and settled in Holon, later moving to Tel Aviv. He studied at the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University. In 1997, he was appointed deputy director-general of the Ministry of Health. From 2006 to 2017, he served as director-general of Wolfson Medical Center.