BGU | MY PATH, Haim Doron, MD

medicine and the issue of the medical level of primary care staff in outlying areas. A delegation of students from the medical school in Jerusalem appeared before the Commission and without any attempt at cosmetics, declared: “You should know, we won’t go to serve in rural settlements and frontier settlements on the periphery because this is not the medicine for which we have been educated. We are taught hospital medicine, are being groomed for research, but not for work in the community, and certainly not under conditions of [mass] aliyah absorption. The training we receive is not suitable for this role.” This confession gave me a lot of food for thought. It impacted on the path I took and the initiatives I would champion. To the surprise of many, the Berenzon Commission decided there was no room for founding a third medical school in the country -- because establishing one would be counter to the interests of the universities in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. When suitable conditions would present themselves, it would be possible to establish another medical school, but first in Haifa and only afterwards in Beer Sheva. On the positive side, they recommended bringing back to Israel students studying medicine abroad, primarily in Italy, to complete their studies at home and do their last years of study in Tel Aviv or in Jerusalem. Before the Berenzon Commission reached its recommendations, I went to the Sheba Medical Center, previously the Tel Hashomer Government Hospital for a semi-secret meeting with Prof. Haim Sheba. The meeting was at 7:00 AM, i.e., before normal working hours. At that time Moshe Soroka 32 was deputy director general of Clalit. As medical director, I was his subordinate. Relations between Sheba and Soroka at the time were exceedingly antagonistic. 33 Prof. Sheba was Ben-Gurion’s personal physician, and he knew I had taken care of Ben-Gurion for a time. So, his attitude towards me was positive. I told him: “I know you will decide in favor of Haifa, which has a government-run hospital, and I admit that today conditions there are much better there than in Beer Sheva. I only have one request: That the Commission’s decision include a passage that in the future there will be a place for establishing a school in Beer Sheva.” He promised and kept his word. The Berenson Commission report said in the future a school of medicine would be established in Haifa, and afterwards in Beer Sheva. The driving force behind establishing the school in Haifa was Prof. David Erlich, who was supported by Haifa mayor, Abba Hushi. Politically, Abba Hushi was perhaps the most powerful mayor in the history of the State of Israel. After the Berenson Commission submitted its findings, Abba Hushi put pressure on the Minister of Education, Yigal Allon, who succeeded in pushing a decision through the cabinet. Although the decision was not to establish a third medical school, the cabinet passed a clever resolution - that the students returning from abroad would complete their medical studies in Haifa: Thus, the school of medicine at the Technion was founded, de facto. The struggle to establish the medical school in Beer Sheva was left on its own, to continue the fight. 32 Moshe Soroka (1903-1972), was born in Belarus and immigrated to Israel in 1920, where he engaged in healthcare administration as a promoter and central figure in the establishment of Clalit’s hospital network beginning with the Emek Hospital in the Jezreel Valley (1930), then Kaplan in Rechovot (1953), Meir in Kfar Saba (1956), and Yoseftal in Eilat (1968). He served as director of Clalit between 1968-1972 and was a central figure behind establishment of the Central Hospital for the Negev, which since 1960 has been the Soroka Medical Center, named in recognition of his substantial role in the establishment of Clalit’s network of clinics, labs, research institutes and rest and recuperation facilities. Idit Zartal, Yaim oo-Ma’asim (Days and Endeavors), Machbarot le-Safrut, 1975. 33 Following the independence of Israel, a lengthy power struggle ensued. There were tensions between elements of the formal government, such as its ministries, and elements of the dominant Mapai party (the Labor or worker’s party) and its affiliates such as the Labor Federation (Histadrut). As just one example, there were ongoing underlying tensions between the fledgling Ministry of Health and Clalit, its parent organization being the Labor Federation. This struggle was an undercurrent whenever a new power hub was on the table. It enveloped not only key players, but also conflicting ideologies and vested interests. Thus, the antagonism between Sheba and Soroka went beyond a simple personal clash. There was much more at stake such as wrestling over powerbases, Clalit hospitals vs. government- hospitals, or which academic players would be involved in the training of doctors.

27