BGU | MY PATH, Haim Doron, MD

CHAPTER 6

Building Clalit’s Hospital Network

Addressing the Physical Plant and Professionalism of Hospitals Moshe Soroka - Architect of the Hospitalization System in Israel From the outset, people at Clalit viewed hospitals as an integral part of the sick fund’s service system. This was so even in various periods when Clalit’s hospitalization system provided, on the average, half of the hospitalization days of the people it insured, and the other hospitalization days were acquired at government or public hospitals. This outlook stemmed from the fact that Clalit never perceived itself as a mere insurer that would merely reimburse the medical expenses of those it insured; but rather, it saw itself as a medical institution responsible for the medical level of its hospitals and clinics. One of the primary issues that I addressed during my service in the sick fund, both as a medical director and as director-general, was the medical standard in Clalit’s hospitals. This was not only for the general hospitals, but also for the psychiatric, geriatric, and rehabilitation hospitals. A historical argument was waged between Haim Sheba and his people at the government hospitals and Clalit’s general-director, Moshe Soroka, over hospitalization. Sheba argued that good medicine could be achieved within a physical plant based on clusters of simple single story barrack-style buildings, as in Poriya hospital and Tel-Hashomer hospital, and there was no need to invest resources beyond this minimum in the hospitals’ physical infrastructure. By contrast, Moshe Soroka argued that good medicine could only be done by creating a solid physical medical infrastructure in the construction of hospitals. He took the long view – that one must think along lines of a proper medical response for generations of patients, not only on the needs and situation in the here and now. In my estimation, Moshe Soroka was correct; and, I was glad that over the years the government system also adopted this assessment. One of the reasons for the disagreement between Haim Sheba and Moshe Soroka was the fact that in the decades the Mapai-party was in power, Soroka’s access to sources of funding was much better than that of the government system. Moreover, personal feelings were not absent, deriving from the dispute between Clalit and Sheba and his people which went back to the 1940s. In my view, Moshe Soroka was the architect of the State of Israel’s hospitalization system for his championship and construction of Clalit’s network of hospitals. It became, and still is, a crucial component in the Israeli health system’s physical infrastructure. When I was appointed medical director of Clalit, Soroka initially feared I was some sort of Trojan Horse of the sick fund’s doctors, sent to work against him at Clalit headquarters. But the truth was the opposite: I immediately recognized Soroka’s lofty qualities and worked in close cooperation with him. In construction of hospitals, he worked with one architectural firm: Sharon, Richter, Yasin. In contrast, Clalit clinics across the country were designed by a host of architects. The Professional Level of Hospitals Collaboration between Moshe Soroka and myself was splendid. Let me say with all modesty, he built the buildings, the essential physical infrastructure, while I, for my part, contributed their medical content. The two components were complementary, and both were essential in determining the level of Clalit’s hospitals and clinics.

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