A group of seven Israeli hospitals – including Jerusalem’s Hadassah University Medical Center and Shaare Zedek Medical Center – halted their strike Sunday after almost two weeks a consequence of an agreement reached with the Health and Finance ministries.
The hospitals will receive some NIS 960 million by the end of the year. In addition, the parties’ representatives will work on another agreement for the 2022 budget by the beginning of November.
Following the development, the hospitals will resume full operations.
שמח על סיום ההשבתה בבתי החולים העצמאיים וחזרה לפעילות מלאה. אני מכיר ומבין את הצרכים והגענו להסכמות. בפעם הראשונה מאז קום המדינה הצלחתי להכניס לתקציב המדינה תיקצוב ישיר לבתי החולים האלה. ועם ההסכמות וסיום השביתה, עשינו עוד צעד לחיזוק מערכת הבריאות שלנו. שנה טובה!
— Nitzan Horowitz نيتسان هوروفيتس ניצן הורוביץ (@NitzanHorowitz) September 5, 2021
“Happy with the end of the strike at the independent hospitals and with them returning to full operation,” Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz wrote on Twitter. “I know and understand their needs and we have reached an agreement.”
“For the first time since the establishment of the state, I was able to have included in the state budget direct funding for these hospitals,” he added. “With the agreement and the end of the strike, we have taken another step to strengthen our health care system.”
The so-called “public” hospitals are independent organizations that in the past had mostly relied on donations, as opposed to facilities directly owned and funded by the government or health funds.
Besides for the two major facilities in Jerusalem, they also include Netanya’s Laniado Medical Center, Ma’aynei Hayeshua Medical Center, Bnei Brak, and three hospitals in Nazareth, together serving two million people, or about 20% of the population.
Last winter, the hospitals also went on strike over their prolonged financial crisis. The protest was over after the government committed to allocated them the needed funding.
However, the strike began again last month after part of the promised resources were not transferred.