BGU | MY PATH, Haim Doron, MD

CHAPTER 7

Other Hospitals

Hospitalization in Ashdod One Friday morning I met Ashdod’s longtime mayor, Zvi Zilker, for lunch. 98 Prior to the meeting, we’d prepared the draft of a contract to build a hospital in Ashdod together. At the time, 1970, there was no justification for allocating a large number of hospital beds to Ashdod. My idea was to establish a local hospital together with the municipality -- along the lines of the Sharon Hospital. 99 The city had a smattering of medical services scattered about the city. A lab here; a specialist's clinic there; an urgent care out-patient clinic somewhere else. The mayor had earmarked land for a future hospital. We, Clalit, would open all the medical services to the community-at-large, regardless of sick fund affiliation. Clalit would build a local emergency room facility in Ashdod so that the city’s residents wouldn’t have to travel to Kaplan Hospital in Rechovot or Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon for every small thing. Afterwards, according to the plan, we would begin to open departments and hospitalization beds paced to the growth of the city’s population, at the beginning perhaps even applying the Eilat structural model. At the time (1970s), Yosef Burg was Minister of Interior, and the director-general of Interior was Haim Koversky. 100 The pair rejected the plan, objecting to a local government again being involved in establishing a hospital, as in the case of the Sharon Hospital. I felt this was a myopic and narrow view since, if we, Clalit, would build the hospital, it would save the state a lot of money. I remember Zvi Zilker telling me, with candor, “I’m not you guys and you guys are not me, but I’ll build a hospital only with you.” 101 And what happened is that we signed the agreement mentioned above, but the government cancelled it. Our approach was mamlachti, for the greater good of the people, devoid of partisanship; and in this case, the government was acting contrary to the interests of the people and health system of the area. Hospitals in Jerusalem In 1854, the first Jewish hospital was established in Jerusalem, funded and administered by the Baron de Rothschild. Between the years 1854-1902, four other Jewish hospitals were established in Jerusalem: Bikur Holim, Misgav Ledach, Shaarei Tzedek and Ezrat Nashim. All the institutions operated on a philanthropic basis with funding from abroad. Most services were provided gratis, or fees were graduated according to the patient’s means. In 1918, following the British occupation of Israel from the Ottomans, the Rothschild Hospital in Jerusalem was reopened under Hadassah auspices – a facility that became Hadassah’s primary hospital in Israel. Hadassah Hospitals Clalit and the Hadassah Medical Federation were the two primary voluntary public medicine organizations during the British Mandate period (1918-1948) and even under statehood. Both played a lofty role in building the health system in the country. Of course, this was together with the government health system and other public medical institutions. Clalit grew out of the foundations of a health system initiated by Labor Zionist-driven Jewish laborers. By contrast, the Hadassah Medical Federation was initiated by the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Hadassah. The relations between the two have witnessed ups and downs over the years. 98 Zvi Zilker, a civil engineer by training, served as mayor for 33 years, from 1969-83 and 1989-2008. 99 Today, Ashdod, with over a quarter of a million residents, is Israel’s fifth largest city. It was transformed demographically and culturally by the Russians who made aliyah in the 1990s and flocked to this seashore city. 100 Burg was the all-powerful leader of the National Religious Party, and Koversky was a linchpin in decision-making on planning. He was director-general of the Ministry of the Interior between 1970-1986. 101 Their allegiances were to rival camps: Zilker was a member of the Likud party; whereas Doron and Clalit were aligned with the united socialist Labor Zionist party..

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